Arab, Muslim ministers urge action to protect Jerusalem’s holy sites

Arab, Muslim ministers urge action to protect Jerusalem’s holy sites
Reuters

Top Arab and Muslim foreign ministers agreed at a meeting in Amman on Wednesday to establish a mechanism to document alleged Israeli violations in Jerusalem, urging coordinated international action to protect the city's religious sites.

The meeting was attended by foreign ministers and senior officials from more than a dozen Arab and Muslim countries, including Jordan, Türkiye, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Qatar, Iraq, Pakistan, Indonesia, Algeria, Morocco and Tunisia.

Nabil Fahmy, the newly appointed secretary-general of the Cairo-based Arab League, also attended.

Protecting holy sites

In a joint declaration issued after the meeting, participants announced the creation of a permanent mechanism to document alleged Israeli violations in East Jerusalem and at Muslim and Christian places of worship.

They also agreed to establish a dedicated media platform to collect evidence of alleged Israeli violations and present it to international organisations and the wider international community.

A bird flies above the Dome of the Rock on Al-Aqsa compound in Jerusalem's Old City, 23 June 2026
Reuters

Calling for “international action”, the declaration urged governments and international institutions to halt what it described as Israeli efforts to change East Jerusalem’s “legal, historical, and demographic status”.

It went on to state that East Jerusalem is Palestinian territory and the “capital of the independent Palestinian state”.

Regional tensions

The declaration also condemned reported Israeli violations at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, including alleged attempts to alter the site's historical and legal status, as well as restrictions affecting Christian holy sites.

“Ministers stressed the need to preserve the historical and legal status quo at Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites,” the declaration read, adding that unilateral measures by Israel were “null and void under international law.”

The meeting took place amid international efforts to preserve a fragile ceasefire in Gaza and revive negotiations aimed at achieving a lasting settlement to the Israel-Palestinian conflict.

Jordan, which has served for decades as the custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites, has repeatedly warned that unilateral changes to the status quo risk inflaming regional tensions.

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