In a unified show of diplomatic pushback against shifting territorial and religious dynamics in Jerusalem, the foreign ministers of eight major Muslim-majority nations have issued a sharp condemnation of Israeli settler incursions into Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound, while demanding formal international recognition of Jordan’s long-held legal jurisdiction over the sacred site.
The joint position was released Wednesday in an official statement shared via social media by Qatar’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs. The statement, signed by ministers from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Turkey, Egypt, Indonesia, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia, argues that the intrusions—carried out with explicit protection from Israeli security forces—represent a blatant breach of international law, binding United Nations resolutions, and the established historical and legal framework governing holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem.
The coalition of foreign ministers went on to reject all Israeli efforts to unilaterally revise the centuries-old legal and religious status quo that protects both Islamic and Christian holy sites across Jerusalem. They reiterated their urgent call for the global community to formally uphold and recognize Jordan’s centuries-old custodianship mandate over the entire Al-Aqsa compound.
Further emphasizing their stance, the ministers stressed that Al-Aqsa Mosque remains a sacred space reserved exclusively for Muslim worship. They also placed full accountability for the rising wave of intrusions carried out by settlers under Israeli military protection squarely on Israeli national authorities.
The Al-Aqsa compound has operated under a carefully negotiated status quo arrangement for decades, an internationally agreed framework that enshrines its identity as an exclusive place of Islamic worship. The current governing structure was established following the 1967 Six-Day War, when Jordan and Israel reached a consensus: the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf would oversee all internal religious and administrative affairs of the site, while Israel would retain control over external security operations. Under this long-standing agreement, non-Muslim visitors are allowed to tour the compound during scheduled time slots, but are explicitly prohibited from conducting private or communal prayer on the grounds.
In recent years, however, the site has seen a steady and alarming increase in intrusions by Israeli settlers, most of which proceed with armed military escort. This escalation comes amid broader reported efforts to alter the site’s governing status: independent regional outlet Middle East Eye previously revealed that the U.S. and Israel have been actively working to revoke Jordan’s historic custodianship of the Al-Aqsa complex, according to anonymous senior sources.
Under the drafted plan first exposed by MEE, future management of the revered Muslim site would be restructured to align closely with Israeli strategic and political interests. The initiative is being spearheaded by former White House advisor Jared Kushner and current U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee, according to accounts from U.S., Jordanian, Palestinian, Western and Gulf Arab diplomatic sources. If implemented, the plan would dissolve the existing authority of the Jordanian-backed Islamic Waqf and replace it with a new regulatory body appointed by the Israeli government, which would reclassify Al-Aqsa Mosque as a multi-faith religious site.
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio has publicly denied the existence of such a plan, but has stopped short of explicitly affirming Jordan’s long-standing custodianship rights over the compound, leaving the diplomatic status of the agreement in question.