Cairo — The Arab Ministerial Committee, with participation from the State of Qatar, reaffirmed its rejection of any attempt to alter the legal status of Jerusalem, declaring that Israel has no sovereignty over the city or its Islamic and Christian holy sites. The statement came during the committee’s tenth meeting at the Arab League headquarters in Cairo, chaired by Jordan and attended by ministers from Iraq, Palestine, Algeria, Somalia, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Morocco, Tunisia, and Qatar.
The Qatari delegation was led by Minister of State for Foreign Affairs HE Sultan bin Saad Al Muraikhi. The committee emphasized that East Jerusalem remains the capital of the State of Palestine and condemned unilateral Israeli actions, including settlement expansion in Area E1, which it said aims to isolate the Old City and obstruct the creation of a viable Palestinian state.
Committee members denounced measures seeking to change the city’s demographic, historical, and religious character, citing them as clear violations of international law, UN resolutions, and the International Court of Justice advisory opinion. They strongly condemned recent Israeli incursions at Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, restrictions on Muslim worshippers, and escalating attacks on Jerusalem’s Christian community, including the freezing of Greek Orthodox Patriarchate accounts and vandalism of churches and cemeteries.
The committee reaffirmed support for Hashemite custodianship over holy sites in Jerusalem and recognized the authority of Jordan’s Jerusalem Endowment Council in managing Al-Aqsa affairs. It also praised the role of the Jerusalem Committee and Bayt Mal Al-Quds Agency in safeguarding the city’s heritage.
Looking ahead, the committee pledged to strengthen coordination with the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and international bodies to document violations, resist attempts to alter the status quo, and build diplomatic momentum for a unified international stance warning against threats to regional and global peace and security.
This position underscores a collective Arab rejection of any measures undermining the two-state solution and reiterates the demand for a sovereign Palestinian state along the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
