'Unacceptable': Pakistan, 7 other countries condemn Israeli minister Ben Gvir's Al Aqsa incursion

A day after Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir led hundreds of Israeli Jews into Jerusalem’s Al Aqsa mosque compound, Pakistan and seven other countries on Friday issued a joint statement condemning the “provocative actions”.

The joint statement, shared by the Foreign Office, was issued by the foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Turkiye, Indonesia, Jordan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates.

The ministers condemned “in the strongest terms the Israeli escalation at Al Aqsa Mosque, particularly the continued mass settlers’ incursions led by extremist Israeli ministers, under the protection of the Israeli forces, the raising of the Israeli flag within its courtyards, the erection by Israeli police of two tents, and all other inflammatory acts”.

Access to the site is governed by a decades-old “status quo” arrangement between Israel and Jordan, whose religious foundation administers the place. Under that arrangement, Jews may visit but are not permitted to pray there, while Muslim worship is meant to continue uninterrupted.

“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 joint statement said.

The ministers also “deplore and condemn in the strongest terms the illegal and extremist acts of incitement, incursions’ mobilisation calls and violence by Israeli extremist ministers and groups”, warning that such actions “fuel hatred and extremism, and obstruct efforts to advance a just and lasting peace on the basis of the two-State solution”.

The statement said restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship, along with “discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions” to 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”.

It added that the ministers stressed “Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites”.

The ministers further condemned Israel’s “continued and systematic violations and measures” 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.

They reaffirmed their “categorical rejection of any attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites”, while recognising “the special role of the historical Hashemite custodianship in this regard”.

“The ministers reiterate that the entire area of Al Aqsa Mosque, 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 and to regulate entry thereto,” the joint statement said.

The ministers called on Israel as the pccupying power to immediately remove access restrictions to the Old City, and refrain from obstructing Muslim worshippers’ access to the mosque.

The ministers 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”.

Gvir’s incursion coincided with Tisha B’Av, the Jewish fasting day commemorating the destruction of the First and Second Temples, which is being observed from Wednesday night through Thursday this year.

AFP footage showed Ben Gvir and hundreds of fellow worshippers at the Al-Aqsa compound, including Jewish settlers who lined up from the early morning hours to enter the site, where many performed prayers.

Since taking office, Ben Gvir has stormed the site more than a dozen times, and has previously used Tisha B’av gatherings to call for tougher action against Palestinians in Gaza and the Israeli-occupied West Bank.