8 Nations Denounce Israel Over Restrictions on Worship in Jerusalem
The foreign ministers of Türkiye, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates collectively rejected Israel's continued curbs on freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem — most notably the barring of Muslim worshippers from Al-Aqsa Mosque.
The ministers further condemned any Israeli attempts to "alter" the established legal and historical status of Muslim and Christian holy sites across the city.
"These continued Israeli measures constitute a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as of the existing legal and historical status quo, and represent an infringement on the unrestricted right of access to places of worship," they declared in a joint statement.
The top diplomats voiced their "absolute rejection of the illegal and restrictive" Israeli measures targeting both Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem, specifically citing the obstruction of Christian access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for religious observances.
Israel 'Holds No Sovereignty Over Occupied Jerusalem'
Reaffirming the imperative to uphold the legal and historical status quo governing Jerusalem and its sacred sites, the ministers reiterated that Israel, "as the occupying Power, holds no sovereignty" over occupied Jerusalem, and stressed that all measures impeding worshippers' access must be brought to an immediate halt.
The joint statement singled out Israel's prolonged closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque — now sealed for 30 consecutive days, encompassing the entirety of the holy month of Ramadan — as particularly egregious.
The ministers reaffirmed that the full 144-dunam compound of Al-Aqsa Mosque constitutes an exclusively Muslim place of worship, and that the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, operating under Jordan's Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, holds sole legal jurisdiction over the site's administration.
"The Ministers called on Israel, as the occupying Power, to immediately cease the closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif, remove access restrictions in the Old City of Jerusalem, and refrain from obstructing Muslim worshippers' access to the mosque," the statement read.
The group also called on the broader international community to adopt a "firm stance" against Israel's ongoing violations targeting both Islamic and Christian holy sites throughout Jerusalem.
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