Morocco has condemned Israeli actions against Palestinian worshippers in Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound this week, while Israeli-organised dance festivals in the Sinai have sparked outrage in Egypt.
Morocco has expressed its "firm condemnation of the incursion by Israeli occupation forces into the Al-Aqsa mosque, their closure of its gates and their aggression against unarmed worshippers in the mosque compound", a foreign ministry statement said.
The clashes come after three weeks of deadly violence in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and as the Jewish festival of Passover and Christian Easter overlap with the .
Morocco "believes that this flagrant aggression and deliberate provocation during the holy month of Ramadan will only inflame hatred and extremism, and reduce to nothing the chances of any relaunch of a peace process in the region", the statement added.
More than 150 people were injured in clashes between Palestinian demonstrators and Israeli police in the Al-Aqsa compound on Friday, the first face-off at the flashpoint holy site since the start of Ramadan.
Al-Aqsa is Islam's third-holiest site. Jews refer to it as the Temple Mount, referencing two temples said to have stood there in antiquity.
Witnesses said Palestinians threw stones at Israeli forces, who fired rubber-coated bullets and stun grenades.
Palestinian demonstrators clash with Israeli police at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound. Source: Getty / AHMAD GHARABLI/AFP via Getty Images
But Morocco remains the chair of the Al-Quds (Jerusalem) Committee of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation, which is tasked by the pan-Islamic bloc with the protection of the Al-Aqsa mosque and the cultural heritage of Israeli-annexed east Jerusalem.
King Mohammed VI gave instructions for the kingdom's condemnation of Israeli actions to be relayed directly to the head of the Israeli liaison office in Rabat, the foreign ministry added.
The ministry called on the United Nations and the international community to "intervene urgently to put a stop to these violations and aggressions against the Palestinian people".
Egyptians see red over Israeli-run dance festivals in Sinai
It comes as Israeli-organised twin dance festivals in the Sinai have sparked outrage in Egypt, coming just days before the anniversary of the end of the Jewish state's occupation of the peninsula.
The Egyptian branch of the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement, which opposes Israel's occupation of Palestinian territories, has called for a boycott of the venues for the Nabia and Grounded festivals.
"As we do every year, we were preparing to celebrate... the stories of the heroic resistance but we discovered that the Zionist occupation was returning to the Sinai," the branch said in a statement Wednesday.
The Nabia festival is due to run from 17 to 20 April; the Grounded festival from 20 to 23 of April. Both offer all-night dancing with an international lineup of artists.
The anniversary of Israel's withdrawal from most of the Sinai in 1982 under a landmark 1979 peace agreement falls on 25 April. It ended an occupation which began during the Six-Day War of 1967.
Egyptian Facebook user Farah Mourad complained that the festivals are taking place ahead of "Sinai Liberation Day... and during the holy month of Ramadan".
The music scene has become a major draw for Israeli tourists visiting the south coast of the Sinai Peninsula, along with its beaches, dive sites and low costs compared to Israel.
