Pakistan, seven other countries condemn Israeli curbs on Muslim and Christian worship in occupied Jerusalem

Pakistan, along with seven other countries, condemned the restrictions imposed by Israel on the freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem, the Foreign Office (FO) said on Tuesday.

Since Israel and the United States started a war with Iran on Feb 28, Israeli authorities have closed access to Jerusalem’s holy sites over security concerns — Al Aqsa Mosque for Muslims, the Church of the Holy Sepulchre for Christians and the Western Wall for Jews.

In a joint statement alongside the foreign ministers of Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Turkiye, Saudi Arabia and Qatar, the FO condemned and rejected the continued restrictions imposed by Israel on the freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem.

The restrictions have included preventing Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque and Al-Haram Al-Sharif, as well as preventing “the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass”.

“These continued Israeli measures constitute a flagrant violation of international law … and represent an infringement on the unrestricted right of access to places of worship,” the joint statement said.

The ministers rejected the “illegal and restrictive” Israeli measures against Muslims and Christians in Jerusalem and stressed the necessity of respecting the legal and historical status quo in Jerusalem and its Muslim and Christian holy sites.

They reiterated that Israel, being an occupying power, held “no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem”.

According to the FO, the ministers also renewed their condemnation of Israel’s continued closure of the gates of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif to worshippers for 30 consecutive days, including during Ramazan. They said that the restriction of freedom of worship was a “serious violation of international law, the existing legal and historical status quo, and Israel’s obligations as the occupying power”.

“They warned of the dangers of these escalatory measures to regional and international peace and security,” the statement added.

The foreign ministers also said that the Jerusalem Endowments and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Affairs, held the exclusive jurisdiction to administer the mosque’s affairs and regulate entry to it.

They called on Israel to immediately cease the closure of the gates, remove access restrictions in the Old City of Jerusalem, and refrain from obstructing Muslim worshippers’ access to the mosque.

“They also called on the international community to adopt a firm position that compels Israel to halt its ongoing violations and illegal practices against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, as well as its violations of the sanctity of those holy places,” the statement added.

On Sunday, the Israeli police prevented the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem, Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate Palm Sunday mass.

Meanwhile, for the first time since 1967, Al Aqsa Mosque — Jerusalem’s most sensitive holy site — was closed at the end of Ramazan this month, forcing worshippers to hold Eid prayers as close as they could to the sealed site.

In February, Israel had imposed restrictions on Palestinian worshippers from the occupied West Bank attending weekly Friday prayers at the Al Aqsa Mosque in east Jerusalem, and capped the number of worshippers at 10,000 during Ramazan.