RIYADH, July 27 (Xinhua) -- Saudi King Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud contacted U.S. President Donald Trump and other world leaders over the past days, which helped end Israel's restrictions on the Al-Aqsa Mosque in East Jerusalem, media reports said Thursday.
The king "has held necessary contacts with a number of leaders of the world over the past few days," the Saudi Press Agency quoted a statement by the Saudi Royal Court as saying.
It said the Saudi government contacted the U.S. administration over Israel's restrictions imposed on the holy compound, which triggered off two-week violent clashes between Palestinians and Israeli forces in East Jerusalem and the West Bank.
The king urged Trump to exert its efforts to pressure Israel to open the Al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslims and cancel the restrictions on their access, the Al Arabiya TV reported.
"The king's efforts with a number of world leaders on Al-Aqsa are culminated with success," the Saudi Royal Court said, referring to the latest moves by Israeli government to remove all security measures taken at the holy compound.
The Saudi king affirmed the right of Muslims to worship in the Al-Aqsa Mosque with ease and tranquility, while emphasizing "the importance of achieving a just and comprehensive peace for the Palestinian cause," it added.
Israel removed all the CCTV cameras, metal bridge and the railings from the entrances to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound overnight Thursday. Thousands of Muslim worshipers celebrated the victory in the nearby streets early Thursday morning.
Jerusalem's senior Muslim clergies announced on Thursday that Muslim worshipers can return to pray inside the mosque.
Israel installed metal detectors and security cameras at the entrances to the compound since July 14, after a shooting incident in which three Israeli Arab gunmen killed two Israeli policemen before being killed at the compound.
Israel also banned Palestinian Muslims under 50 years old from access to the shrine for doing prayers.
These measures have sparked widespread protests from Palestinians as well as the Muslim world, which slammed Israel for attempting to change the status quo on the holy site.
Three Palestinians protesters were killed and hundreds of others were wounded last Friday in violent clashes with Israeli forces last Friday. Three Israelis were stabbed to death in a West Bank settlement by a Palestinian attacker on the same day.
The Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East Jerusalem, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest site for Jews, has been a flashpoint site for the bloody Israeli-Palestinian conflict over the past decades.
