UAE, Saudi Arabia join other Muslim countries in blasting Israeli visits to Temple Mount

Eight Muslim countries — some close allies and some that don’t recognize Israel — issue a joint statement condemning visits by Israelis to the Temple Mount today, calling it an illegal escalation.

The United Arab Emirates, Turkey, Egypt, Jordan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar condemn “in the strongest terms…the continuation of mass incursions by settlers led by extremist Israeli ministers to the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, under the protection of Israeli police forces, raising the Israeli flag inside its courtyards, erecting two Israeli police tents, and other provocative acts.”

Far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was among those visiting the site to make Tisha B’Av, the Jewish day of mourning for the two temples that stood there.

The statement calls the visit “a flagrant violation of international law, relevant United Nations resolutions and the historical and legal status quo in the holy places in Occupied East Jerusalem.”

No written or formal status quo agreement exists for the Temple Mount. Instead, Israel since 1967 has maintained an understanding with the Jordan-backed Waqf that Jews could visit the site but would refrain from organized prayer.

The countries say restrictions on access to the Old City of Jerusalem and its places of worship “constitute a flagrant violation of international law” and are attempts to change the status quo.

They claim that Israel doesn’t have sovereignty over “Occupied Jerusalem” or its Islamic and Christian holy sites.

They say the entirety of the Temple Mount site “is a place of pure worship for Muslims,” and that only the Waqf can manage access to it.