8 Muslim countries, including UAE, pan Israeli closure of Al-Aqsa amid Iran attacks

Eight Muslim states, including close Israeli partners, blast Israel for keeping Muslim worshippers out of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on the Temple Mount during the month of Ramadan.

Israel has restricted the size of public gatherings, including at the Western Wall, as Iran and Hezbollah fire missiles at the country daily.

“Security restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship coupled with discriminatory and arbitrary access restrictions to the other places of worship in the Old City constitute a flagrant violation to international law, including international humanitarian law, the historical and legal status quo, and the principle of unrestricted access to places of worship,” say the foreign ministers of Qatar, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates, Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, and Egypt.

The UAE is widely seen as Israel’s closest partner in the Middle East. Egypt is also a close security partner.

The nations stress that the entire Temple Mount complex — the holiest site in Judaism, but where Jewish access is limited — is exclusively a Muslim place of worship, and that only the Jordanian Waqf can regulate entry to Al-Aqsa.