Members of the Arab League gather for an emergency meeting in Cairo on April 5, 2023, after Israeli forces raided the al-Aqsa mosque during the Islamic holy month of Ramadan. (PHOTO / AFP)

CAIRO/OTTAWA/ISTANBUL - The Arab League on Wednesday strongly condemned an Israeli police raid on Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, saying it put regional stability at risk.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting on the incident, the League condemned what it called "crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against defenseless Muslim worshippers" in the mosque.

Israeli police entered Jerusalem's al-Aqsa mosque, Islam's third holiest site, early on Wednesday to try to clear groups it said were barricaded inside, leading to clashes with worshippers and triggering an exchange of crossborder fire with Gaza.

The incident came during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and on the eve of the Jewish Passover, stoking fears of further violence at the mosque compound, a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

In a statement issued after an emergency meeting on the Israeli police raid on Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem, the Arab League condemned what it called "crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against defenseless Muslim worshippers" in the mosque

The pre-dawn raid risked "igniting a spiral of violence that threatens security and stability in the region and the world", the League's statement added.

ALSO READ: Violence erupts again at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said the situation had been caused by "extremists" who barricaded themselves inside the mosque with weapons, stones and fireworks, while the country's far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has called for a harsh response to the rocket attacks from Gaza, tweeting: "Hamas rockets require more than blasting dunes and empty sites. It's time to rip heads off in Gaza."

Arab League Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit had earlier condemned the raid in a separate statement.

"The extremist approaches that control the policy of the Israeli government will lead to widespread confrontations with the Palestinians if they are not put to an end," he said.

Meanwhile, Türkiye's President Tayyip Erdogan called the raid in the mosque compound a "red line" for Türkiye.

A girls holds Palestinian flags during a protest against an Israeli police raid of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City early Wednesday, outside the Fatih mosque in Istanbul, Türkiye, on April 5, 2023. (PHOTO / AP)

"I condemn the vile acts against the first qiblah of Muslims in the name of my country and people, and I call for the attacks to be halted as soon as possible," Erdogan said in a speech at a fast-breaking dinner.

ALSO READ: Israel's cabinet approves establishing a 'national guard'

"The name of this is the politics of repression, the politics of blood, the politics of provocation. Türkiye can never remain silent and unmoved in the face of these attacks," Erdogan said.

We're extremely concerned with the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government, we're concerned about the judicial reforms ... we're concerned by the violence around the al-Aqsa mosque.

Justin Trudeau, Canadian Prime Minister

"Putting a hand on Al-Aqsa mosque and trampling on the sanctity of the Haram al-Sharif is a red line for us."

Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau also criticzed the Israeli government's "inflamed rhetoric" and urged it to change its approach to the Palestinians amid an upsurge in violence.

"We deplore what's going on right now in Israel," Trudeau told reporters in Alliston, Ontario. He also condemned the rocket attacks by Palestinian militants from Gaza.

"We're extremely concerned with the inflamed rhetoric coming out of the Israeli government, we're concerned about the judicial reforms ... we're concerned by the violence around the al-Aqsa mosque," Trudeau said.

Trudeau's comments are among the first to come from Israel's traditional Western allies on Wednesday's violence.

READ MORE: Cross-border fire in Gaza after Israeli police raid Al-Aqsa mosque

"We need to see the Israeli government shifting in its approach, and Canada is saying that as a dear and close and steadfast friend to Israel, we are deeply concerned around the direction that the Israeli government has been taking," he said.

"We absolutely, unequivocally condemn the rocket attacks from militants in Gaza. We need to see a de-escalation of violence," Trudeau added.