LONDON: Foreign ministers of eight Arab and Islamic countries condemned Israel on Thursday over “escalating actions” after far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir joined thousands of extremist Jews in one of the largest incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, the UAE, Qatar, Egypt, Turkiye, Pakistan and Indonesia issued a joint statement denouncing “provocative acts” at the holy site, including the raising of the Israeli flag inside the mosque compound and the installation of two police tents.
They said that the large-scale settler incursions under Israeli police protection, along with the other measures, were “blatant violations” of international law that aimed to alter the historic and legal status quo governing the site.
The statement came after more than 2,500 Israeli settlers entered the Al-Aqsa compound on Thursday during the Jewish fast of Tisha B’Av.
Israeli police tightened restrictions around Jerusalem’s Old City and prevented many Palestinian worshippers from entering the mosque, while groups of settlers performed religious rituals inside the compound.
Only a limited number of Palestinians managed to reach the mosque for dawn prayers before Israeli forces assaulted several worshippers and other residents, according to the Jerusalem Governorate.
Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly visited the site despite regional criticism, joined Thursday’s incursion alongside Likud lawmaker Amit Halevi.
In a statement, Palestine’s foreign ministry described the incursion as “an attempt to move these violations to a stage of establishing illegal facts on the ground and imposing a temporal and spatial division“ of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
It called on the international community to intensify the international presence on the ground to halt the violations and preserve the mosque's historical and legal status.
In their statement, the foreign ministers condemned what they described as “incitement, calls for mass incursions and violence” by Israeli ministers and extremist groups, warning that repeated provocations at the compound risk fueling religious tensions and undermining efforts to achieve a two-state solution.
The ministers reaffirmed that Israel, as the occupying power, has no sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites and called on Israel to lift restrictions preventing Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque.
Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world’s third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews refer to the area as the Temple Mount, claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.
Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa Mosque is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
