The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Türkiye, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates on Thursday condemned Israel's escalation at the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound. They denounced the continued mass incursions by Israeli settlers into the Mosque, led by extremist Israeli ministers under the protection of Israeli forces. They also condemned the raising of the Israeli flag in the compound's courtyards, the erection of two tents by Israeli police and what they described as other inflammatory acts. They stressed that these provocative and unacceptable actions constitute a flagrant violation of international law, the relevant United Nations resolutions, and the historical and legal status quo at the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem. The ministers also condemned what they described as illegal and extremist acts of incitement, calls to mobilize incursions and violence by Israeli extremist ministers and groups. They said the actions fueled hatred and extremism and undermined efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace based on a two-state solution. They added that Israeli restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship constitute a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, and an unlawful attempt to alter the historical and legal status quo. They stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites. The foreign ministers further condemned the continued and systematic violations carried out by Israel, the occupying Power, aimed at altering the historical, legal, and demographic character of occupied East Jerusalem and undermining the sanctity and status of its Islamic and Christian holy sites. The ministers reiterated that the entire 144-dunam Al-Aqsa Mosque compound was an exclusively Muslim place of worship. They said the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, which is affiliated with Jordan's Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, was the only legal authority responsible for administering the site and regulating access to it. The ministers called on Israel to immediately remove access restrictions to the Old City of Jerusalem, and refrain from obstructing Muslim worshippers’ access to the Mosque. They also called on the international community to adopt a firm position that compels Israel to halt its ongoing violations and illegal practices against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, as well as its violations of the sanctity of these holy places. Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound on Thursday, breaching the site's decades-old status quo as he marked a Jewish day of mourning.
