On Saturday, French President Emmanuel Macron expressed his "concern" about the "deteriorating situation" in the Palestinian territories, during a telephone conversation with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, while calls for the Palestinians were renewed to Rabat in Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The French presidency said that Macron "denounced the continuation of the settlement policy, and reminded Mahmoud Abbas of France's firm commitment to respecting the legitimate rights of the Palestinians."
Macron offered his "condolences to the Palestinian people" for the martyrdom of Al-Jazeera correspondent Sherine Abu Akleh, and stressed the importance France attaches to shedding light on the circumstances of her death, according to the Elysee statement.
"The President of the Republic affirmed his readiness to contain any escalation and facilitate the resumption of negotiations with the aim of achieving a just and lasting peace in the region," the Elysee Palace added.
The official Palestinian News Agency quoted Abbas as saying during the call that the current situation cannot be tolerated, in the absence of a political horizon and international protection for the Palestinian people, and the occupation authorities disavow their obligations.
Abbas indicated that "the Palestinian leadership is in the process of taking measures to confront the Israeli escalation, in light of the inability of the international community to compel Israel to comply with the resolutions of international legitimacy."
During another phone call with Jordan's King Abdullah II, Macron "expressed his readiness to continue working for the stability of the region, in light of the Baghdad Conference in August 2021, which France co-chaired and included all the regional parties."
According to a statement by the Jordanian Royal Court, the contact touched on the situation in the Palestinian territories, where King Abdullah stressed the need to stop unilateral Israeli measures, which would undermine the chances of achieving peace, as he put it.
Invitations to Rabat
On the other hand, Hamas said in a statement that protecting Al-Aqsa is a national and religious duty, considering that "the settlers' calls to storm Al-Aqsa, over the course of two days, are desperate attempts to Judaize it and impose sovereignty there, as part of the occupation's plans to establish the temporal and spatial division."
The statement added, "These campaigns will increase our people's determination to reach the mosque and defend it."
In turn, the Palestine Scholars Association said that the settlers' insistence on storming Al-Aqsa Mosque "will increase our determination to confront them and thwart them by all means."
In a statement, the Association called on the Palestinians to travel to Al-Aqsa and tie it to protect it from this blatant aggression posed by these malicious and criminal calls, as it put it.
Israeli organizations called again for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday and Monday, a week after tens of thousands of settlers organized a "flags" march in Jerusalem, to celebrate the anniversary of the occupation of the eastern part of the city.