ISLAMABAD: Pakistan among eight Arab-Islamic states on Friday condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque compound by Israeli settlers, led by “extremist Israeli ministers,” the Pakistani foreign office said, demanding world fraternity stop Israel’s ongoing violations and illegal practices against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
The statement came after Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Thursday, breaching the site’s decades-old status quo as he marked a Jewish day of mourning. The visit coincided with Tisha B’Av, the Jewish fasting day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples.
Al-Aqsa Mosque, located within the Haram Al-Sharif compound in East Jerusalem’s Old City, is the third-holiest site in Islam and draws thousands of worshippers. Access to the site has long been a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Türkiye, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates condemned the Israeli mass settler incursions, the raising of the Israeli flag within Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyards, the erection by Israeli police of two tents, and all other inflammatory acts.
“The Ministers further deplore and condemn in the strongest terms the illegal and extremist acts of incitement, incursions’ mobilization calls and violence by Israeli extremist ministers and groups,” the Pakistani foreign office said.
“The Ministers warn that these provocative actions fuel hatred and extremism, and obstruct efforts to advance a just and lasting peace on the basis of the two-State solution.”
Under longstanding arrangements dating back decades, the Islamic Waqf administered by Jordan oversees the site of the mosque, while Israeli authorities control security and access to the Old City.
The Arab-Islamic foreign ministers stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites.
“Restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship in the Old City constitute a flagrant violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, and an unlawful attempt to alter the historical and legal status quo,” they said, reaffirming their rejection of any attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites
“The Ministers reiterate that the entire area of Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al Haram Sharif, which amounts to 144 dunams, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, is the legal entity with exclusive jurisdiction to administer the affairs of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif and to regulate entry thereto.”
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,” the statement said.
