Amman ministerial meeting condemns Israeli actions in Jerusalem, launches international initiative

The final statement of the meeting of Arab foreign ministers, members of the Arab Ministerial Committee assigned to international action against Israel's illegal policies and measures in occupied Jerusalem, held in Jordan on Wednesday, condemned Israeli policies and actions aimed at altering the Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem, and announced the launch of an international initiative to mobilize effective global opposition to these measures and policies.

According to the statement, as reported by the Jordan News Agency (Petra), "At the invitation of Jordan, the foreign ministers of the Arab countries on the committee (Jordan, Egypt, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Palestine, Morocco, and the Secretary-General of the Arab League), along with the foreign ministers and representatives of Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Malaysia, met in Amman to discuss the dangerous and unprecedented escalation in occupied Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites, and to launch a joint initiative to confront all illegal Israeli actions that are driving the region toward further conflict."

The participants also condemned Israeli policies and actions targeting the Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem, its legal status and demographics, rejecting these measures as null and void with no legal effect, and as blatant violations of international law and Israel's obligations as the occupying power.

The statement affirmed that "East Jerusalem is part of the occupied Palestinian territories, over which Israel has no sovereignty, and is the capital of the Palestinian state that must be realized as free, independent, and sovereign within the June 4, 1967 lines, based on the two-state solution and in accordance with international legitimacy and the Arab Peace Initiative, as the only path to a just and comprehensive peace. The statement also reaffirmed the New York Declaration for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue and the implementation of the two-state solution."

The statement further condemned all Israeli violations at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, all attempts to alter its historical and legal status, and efforts to impose temporal and spatial division, including increasing incursions by settlers and extremist Israeli ministers and officials, facilitated and protected by the Israeli occupation authorities, as well as restrictions on worshippers' access to the mosque and assaults against them.

The statement stressed that "Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, in its entirety of 144 dunams, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department of the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Places is the sole legal authority responsible for managing all its affairs and regulating entry."

The statement also condemned Israeli violations against Christian holy sites, which threaten the historic Christian presence in Jerusalem, including restrictions on access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the practice of religious rites there, interference in church affairs, pressure on their institutions and properties, and attacks targeting clergy, worshippers, and religious symbols.

The statement highlighted support for the historic Hashemite custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, its role in protecting these sites, preserving their Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity, maintaining their historical and legal status, and supporting the steadfastness of Jerusalem's residents by providing all forms of development support and strengthening Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem.

The statement emphasized the importance of the Jerusalem Committee and the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency, its executive arm, and supported all the committee's efforts. It warned that Israeli attacks on Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem constitute a blatant provocation to the feelings of nearly two billion Muslims worldwide and risk sparking a religious conflict with repercussions beyond the region, threatening regional and international peace and security.

The statement called on the international community and the UN Security Council to act immediately to halt all illegal Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites, which are escalating as part of a systematic Israeli policy to entrench occupation in Jerusalem and all occupied Palestinian territories through settlement expansion, land annexation, economic blockade of Palestinians, targeting of Palestinian national institutions, rising settler violence, and targeting of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, while Israel continues to violate the Gaza ceasefire and worsen the humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip. These actions undermine the two-state solution and all prospects for a just and comprehensive peace, fueling tension and conflict in the region.

The statement rejected any unilateral decisions that violate the legal status of occupied Jerusalem, including the opening or relocation of diplomatic missions to the city, affirming that such moves contravene international law and relevant UN resolutions, and called on countries to reverse such decisions.

The statement noted the launch of a joint initiative to mobilize effective international opposition to these escalating and illegal Israeli practices and policies, and to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to respect the historical and legal status of Jerusalem and its holy sites. It also announced the establishment of a sustainable institutional mechanism, including a media platform, to document and expose Israeli violations against holy sites and worshippers, clarify their catastrophic consequences that risk religious conflict, and undermine regional and international peace and security before international organizations and global public opinion, with the necessary support for this mechanism.

The statement also called for a joint ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the Arab League during the high-level week of the UN General Assembly in New York next September to discuss the dangerous escalation in Jerusalem and its holy sites and ways to confront it.