News – Yemen: Yemen's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates affirmed that the arson attack against Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 was not an isolated act, but part of a systematic Zionist plan to erase the Arab and Islamic identity of Al-Quds and advance the so-called “Greater Israel” project.

In a statement marking the 56th anniversary of the crime, the Ministry said that ongoing incursions, desecration of sanctities, and excavations threatening the mosque’s foundations are a continuation of that scheme. It stressed that the Zionist expansionist dream — openly reaffirmed by the so-called Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — is being implemented on the ground through land seizures in the West Bank and Al-Quds, alongside genocidal crimes against the Gaza Strip.

The statement noted that Gaza’s steadfastness and resistance remain the greatest obstacle to the Israeli project stretching “from the Nile to the Euphrates.” It said the ongoing massacres, which have killed tens of thousands, mostly women and children, are aimed at breaking Palestinian resilience and eliminating the resistance, in hopes of securing full control over Palestinian land.

The Ministry reiterated Yemen’s principled stance on Palestine, stressing that Al-Quds will remain the eternal capital of Palestine, and that this position is not a slogan but a moral and religious commitment. It added that Yemeni Armed Forces’ operations in the Red Sea, Arabian Sea, and Bab al-Mandab reflect Sana’a’s unwavering support for Gaza, under the leadership of Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi, until the aggression ends and the siege is lifted.

Yemen also urged Arab normalization regimes to reconsider their positions and respect the will of their peoples, while calling on free nations worldwide to intensify pressure on the Zionist entity and support resistance as the only path to reclaiming rights and achieving victory.

The fire at Al-Aqsa Mosque on August 21, 1969, which severely damaged the historic structure, was condemned globally as a crime against Islamic heritage. Since then, Israeli authorities have pursued continuous measures to alter the city’s demographic and religious identity.

Earlier, the Leader of the Revolution Sayyed Abdulmalik al-Houthi warned that Zionist actions in Al-Quds and Al-Aqsa are not passing violations but calculated steps within a dangerous project targeting Islamic sanctities. He stressed that repeated incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque form part of an escalatory policy to impose a new reality, with the ultimate goal of demolishing the mosque and building the alleged temple in its place — a central objective of the Zionist project, pursued amid international silence and Arab complicity. He called for a firm and conscious stance at both popular and official levels, emphasizing that supporting Palestine is a religious and moral duty and that Quds will always remain the central cause of the nation.

Meanwhile, since October 2023, the Israeli war on Gaza has killed more than 62,000 Palestinians, nearly half of them women and children, displaced the majority of the population, and left the enclave on the brink of famine amid relentless bombardment of homes, shelters, and hospitals.