Arab and Muslim countries condemn Israeli storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque

Israeli settlers’ storming of Islam’s holy site fuels ‘hatred’ and obstructs lasting peace, joint statement says.Published On 23 Jul 202623 Jul 2026Eight Arab and Muslim-majority countries have strongly condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem by far-right groups and thousands of Israeli settlers.In a joint statement issued on Thursday, the foreign ministers of Egypt, Indonesia, Jordan, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Turkiye, and the United Arab Emirates denounced the “mass incursions by settlers led by extremist Israeli ministers into the Noble Sanctuary” of Al-Aqsa.The diplomats underscored that the storming of Islam’s third-holiest site took place under the protection of Israeli police forces.“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,” the statement said, calling the escalation “an unlawful attempt to alter the historical and legal status quo” of the holy sites in Jerusalem.“Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites,” it said.More than 4,200 Israeli settlers and members of far-right gro...