UN Slams Desecration of Jenin Mosque by “Israeli” Soldiers

By Staff, Agencies

The United Nations has slammed the desecration of religious sites after a circulated video on social media showed "Israeli" soldiers performing Jewish rituals inside a mosque in the occupied West Bank.

“The desecration of religious sites should not be tolerated and is against common decency, to say the least,” Stephane Dujarric, a spokesman for the UN secretary-general, told reporters on Thursday.

He stressed that religious sites need to “be respected and cannot be perverted in one way or another.”

His remarks came after the Zionist entity’s far-right minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, shared a video showing “Israeli” soldiers performing Jewish rituals inside a mosque during a raid in the West Bank city of Jenin.

The actions were also slammed by Turkey as “provocative”.

"We strongly condemn the provocations of Israeli soldiers who stormed the Jenin Refugee Camp, and disrespected the sanctity of a place of worship by entering the mosque," Oncu Keceli, a spokesman for Turkey's foreign ministry, said on X late on Thursday.

Ankara also called for perpetrators to be punished and for an end to the “settler terror”.

The Palestinian government also decried the “Israeli” raid on Jenin as a "dangerous escalation", warning that the desecration of the mosque by some “Israeli” troops fanned religious tension.

One video shows the troops telling the Jenin refugee camp residents on megaphones that the “story is over.”

The raid on Jenin, which began on Tuesday, is the regime’s 15th incursion into the occupied territories since Tel Aviv launched its onslaught on Gaza on October 7. Palestinian authorities said 12 people were martyred during the raid.