Arabic architecture

Israeli police closed the gates to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound for several hours Friday after clashes erupted with Palestinian worshippers following midday prayers at the flashpoint site.

Safa al-Hussein comes into the consultation room with her four-year-old daughter, Ahed, who has a leg injury she suffered during an attack on the northern Syrian city of Raqqa.

Germany will spend an initial 10 million euros to help remove mines from the northern Syrian city of Raqqa, the Handelsblatt newspaper said in Friday editions, reported Reuters.

The foreign ministry is set to announce the increased funding as part of a pact with the United States on Friday, the paper added.

The Grand Imam of the influential Sunni institution Al Azhar Ahmed at Taeeb met in Rome with Pope Francis and pledged his co-operation in the fight against terrorism, the France press reported.

The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) on Aug. 2 expressed its determination to defend the al-Aqsa Mosque from all threats by Israel and emphasized the sanctity of the holy site for Muslims from around the Islamic world.   

Foreign ministers from Islamic countries will meet in Istanbul on August 1st to discuss the situation at Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, the Foreign Ministry announced on Friday, quoted by Daily Sabah.

Members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary meeting following a call from Ankara.

Palestinians were set to return to pray at a sensitive Jerusalem holy site on July 27 after Israeli authorities removed controversial new security measures, potentially ending a nearly two-week crisis that sparked deadly unrest.

President Recep Tayyip Erdoğan said on July 24 that Israel is headed towards isolation because of measures imposed at the al-Aqsa compound in East Jerusalem.

"Equating the Muslims who come for worship with terrorists is a great eclipse of reason," Erdoğan said at a news conference at the Esenboğa Airport after returning from a two-day visit to the Gulf region.

A top aide to US President Donald Trump was due in Israel Monday in a bid to ease tensions over new security measures at a highly sensitive Jerusalem holy site, a US official said, according to Al Arabia. 

The Turkish and Egyptian foreign ministers spoke on the phone on July 23 on the recent tension over Israeli restrictions around Al-Aqsa Mosque, according to diplomatic sources.