Ministerial Communiqué in Amman: East Jerusalem is Palestine's Capital with No Israeli Sovereignty; International Call to Halt Escalation

A ministerial meeting dedicated to supporting Jerusalem and its holy sites, held in the Jordanian capital Amman on Wednesday, issued a final communiqué condemning Israeli policies and measures targeting the occupied city of Jerusalem. The final communiqué clarified that the foreign ministers of the Arab States, members of the Arab Ministerial Committee tasked with international action to confront illegal Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem—namely Jordan, Tunisia, Algeria, Iraq, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Somalia, Palestine, Egypt, and Morocco—alongside the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, held a meeting. Foreign ministers and representatives from Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey, and Malaysia also participated in the Amman gathering on Wednesday, to discuss the escalating Israeli actions in occupied Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites, and to launch a joint movement to counter them. The attendees affirmed their condemnation of Israeli policies and measures aimed at altering the Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem, as well as its legal and demographic status. They categorically rejected these measures, deeming them null and void, without legal effect, and constituting a clear violation of international law and Israel's obligations as the occupying power. The participants stressed that East Jerusalem is an integral part of the occupied Palestinian territory and Israel has no sovereignty over it. They affirmed it is the capital of the envisioned Palestinian State, which must be free, independent, and sovereign on the June 4, 1967, lines, to live in security and peace alongside Israel, based on the two-state solution, and in accordance with international legitimacy resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative, reiterating the New York Declaration for a peaceful settlement of the Palestinian issue and the implementation of the two-state solution. The communiqué condemned all Israeli violations in Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and all attempts to change its historical and legal status quo, and to impose temporal and spatial division. This included the escalating incursions carried out by settlers and extremist Israeli ministers and officials, along with accompanying practices, statements, and incitement, in addition to restricting access for worshippers and assaulting them, obstructing the work of the Jerusalem Awqaf Administration, and continuing illegal excavations beneath and around the Mosque. The participants affirmed that Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, with its full area of 144 dunums, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims. They stressed that the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Administration, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites, is the sole legal authority exclusively responsible for managing all its affairs and regulating entry thereto. The communiqué also condemned Israeli violations targeting Christian holy sites, and the threat they pose to the historical Christian presence in Jerusalem. This condemnation included restrictions imposed on access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the practice of religious rites, interference in church affairs and harassment of their institutions and properties, in addition to assaults targeting clergy, worshippers, and religious symbols. The attendees affirmed their support for the historical Hashemite Guardianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and its role in protecting these holy sites, preserving their Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity, and maintaining the historical and legal status quo therein. The participants renewed their support for the steadfastness of Jerusalemites and empowering them in facing challenges and consolidating their presence in their city, through providing various forms of developmental support, and strengthening and protecting Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem. They also emphasized the importance of the role of the Al-Quds Committee and Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency, the executive arm of the Committee, and supporting its efforts. The communiqué warned that Israeli aggressions against Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem constitute a provocation to the feelings of nearly two billion Muslims worldwide, and push towards the eruption of a religious conflict that threatens regional and international peace and security. The attendees called on the international community and the Security Council to take immediate action to halt all illegal Israeli measures in occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites, affirming that these measures come within the context of a systematic Israeli policy to entrench the occupation in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territory. This is being done through settlement expansion, land annexation, besieging the Palestinian economy, targeting Palestinian national institutions, escalating settler terrorism, and targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA). This coincides with continued violations of the ceasefire agreement in Gaza and the worsening humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip, which undermines the two-state solution and opportunities for achieving peace. The communiqué affirmed the rejection of any unilateral decision that violates the legal status of occupied Jerusalem, including opening or moving diplomatic missions to the city, considering such actions as contrary to international law and relevant United Nations resolutions, and demanding that the concerned states reverse those decisions. The meeting announced the launch of a joint movement to mobilize effective international support to stop escalatory and illegal Israeli practices, measures, and policies, and to compel Israel, as the occupying power, to respect the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites. It also announced the launch of a sustainable institutional working mechanism that includes a media platform to document Israeli violations against holy sites and worshippers, expose their repercussions before international organizations and global public opinion, and provide the necessary support for this mechanism. The communiqué called for a joint ministerial meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly in September next year in New York, to discuss the dangerous Israeli escalation in Jerusalem and its holy sites and ways to confront it.