JERUSALEM: Pakistan and seven other Muslim countries have condemned Israel’s continued closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif to Muslim worshippers, according to a statement issued by the Foreign Office on Thursday.
The foreign ministers of Pakistan, Egypt, Jordan, United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar issued a joint statement condemning the move. During the holy month of Ramadan, hundreds of thousands of Palestinians traditionally attend prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third-holiest site located in Jerusalem. Israel captured east Jerusalem in the Six-Day War in 1967 and later annexed it.
The Foreign Office statement, posted on the mobile app X and dated March 11, said that security restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship, along with discriminatory and arbitrary limitations on entry to other religious sites, constitute a violation of international law, including international humanitarian law, as well as the historical and legal status quo and the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship. The ministers expressed their absolute rejection and condemnation of the measure, calling it illegal and unjustified.
They also stressed that Israel does not have sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites. The statement reiterated that the entire area of Al-Aqsa Mosque is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims and said that the only legal authority responsible for regulating entry to the mosque is the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department.
The ministers called on Israel to immediately reopen the gates and remove restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem, and to refrain from obstructing worshippers from entering the mosque. They also urged the international community to adopt a firm position and compel Israel to halt what they described as violations and illegal practices against religious sites in Jerusalem.
The Al-Aqsa compound remains a central symbol of Palestinian identity and has frequently been a point of tension. Under long-standing arrangements, Jewish people are allowed to visit the compound but are not permitted to pray there. Israel says it remains committed to maintaining this status quo, while Palestinians fear it is being eroded.
Last month, Israeli authorities imposed restrictions on Palestinian worshippers from the West Bank attending weekly Friday prayers at the mosque and limited the number of worshippers to 10,000 during Ramadan. Israeli police were also deployed heavily around the site.
Authorities also imposed age restrictions on West Bank Palestinians, allowing entry only to men aged 55 and older, women aged 50 and older, and children up to the age of 12.
