(CNN) — Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League Hossam Zaki told CNN that he “doesn’t believe” the statement made by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, earlier Wednesday, in which he said that Israeli security forces “must work to restore order” in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and that “Israel is working to preserve the status quo.”
“I think it’s quite the opposite,” Zaki told CNN’s Becky Anderson. “The Israeli government is determined to inflame the situation.”
He continued, “Whenever there are problems in the internal scene, this is reflected directly on the Palestinians, and this is exactly what is happening now. We could have expected these confrontations several weeks before Ramadan,” and he said: “The situation was bad and is still that bad.”
He stated, “Everything the prime minister says…we do not believe any of those words. They do not need an excuse to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque.”
Zaki said, “The League of Arab States is very concerned about the escalation of violence between Israelis and Palestinians after the Israeli police stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque in the Old City of Jerusalem at dawn on Wednesday and arrested more than 350 people.” He added, “We are very concerned, and we have publicly warned of these confrontations.”
