The foreign ministers of the UAE, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar have issued a joint statement condemning what they described as an Israeli escalation at Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Sanctuary in Jerusalem.
The statement singled out mass incursions by settlers led by extremist Israeli ministers into the mosque compound, carried out under Israeli police protection. It also condemned the raising of the Israeli flag inside the site’s courtyards and the erection of two police tents within its grounds, calling these “unacceptable escalatory acts” that constitute a flagrant violation of international law, relevant United Nations resolutions, and the historic and legal status quo of the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
The ministers affirmed that Israel holds no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites, and renewed their categorical rejection of any attempt to alter the historic and legal status of the city and its sacred sites. They stressed the importance of preserving that status quo and reaffirmed the special role of the Hashemite Custodianship over Jerusalem’s holy sites.
On the administration of Al-Aqsa, the statement was explicit: the full 144-dunum compound is an exclusively Muslim place of worship, and the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, is the sole legally competent authority for managing all affairs of the compound and regulating access to it.
The ministers called on Israel, as the occupying power, to immediately lift restrictions on access to Jerusalem’s Old City and to stop obstructing Muslim worshippers from reaching Al-Aqsa. They also called on the international community to take a firm stance compelling Israel to cease its violations of the holy sites and their sanctity.
The joint statement warned that the provocative actions being carried out by extremist Israeli ministers and groups were fuelling hatred and extremism, and obstructing efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace on the basis of a two-state solution.
