Moroccans take to the streets to condemn Israeli agression in Palestine

Moroccans took to the capital’s streets on Friday night, to call for the criminalization and annulment of the Kingdom’s normalization of diplomatic relations with Israel.

In light of the recent escalation between Israel and Palestine, solidarity for the Palestinian people gathered an approximate 400 participants and intense security presence in Rabat.

Citizens, activists and civil society actors raised banners condemning “the escalating incursions of Israeli forces and settlers into Al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan,” and their “denunciation of the international silence towards the infringement of the sanctity of worshipers, chapels, and holy sites.”

Among the most prominent slogans and banners the participants raised were renewed demands for the annulment of normalization, calling for “the closure of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat, and the dissolution of relations with Israel at various levels of cooperation.”

Morocco “strongly” condemned raids conducted on Wednesday by Israeli police on Al-Aqsaa mosque, which led to violent clashes with worshippers, and the arrest of 350 Palestinians.

A statement from the Moroccan Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it rejects such practices, which exacerbate the situation in occupied Palestinian territories and undermine efforts to achieve calm and rebuild trust.

Israeli police said in a statement justifying the attack that “several law-breaking youths and masked agitators” fortified the mosque “in order to disrupt public order and desecrate the mosque leading to a raid.”

The following Thursday, the Israeli military tweeted that 34 rockets had been fired from Lebanon, with 25 intercepted, and at least four landing in Israel.

While no group has claimed responsibility, Israel blamed the Palestinian group Hamas in Lebanon for the barrage of rockets, retaliating through air strikes to both Lebanon and gaza that same night.