Egypt’s Participation in the Ministerial Meeting in Support of Jerusalem and Its Holy Sites

Egypt participated in Ministerial Meeting in Support of Jerusalem and Its Holy Sites to discuss developments in occupied Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites, bringing together Arab foreign ministers, the Secretary-General of the Arab League and representatives from Indonesia, Pakistan, Turkey and Malaysia.

The meeting, convened at Jordan’s invitation, comes within the framework of ongoing Arab coordination and consultation on developments in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories, and efforts to support the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people while preserving the city’s legal and historical status.

The meeting was attended by senior officials from Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Iraq, Algeria, Tunisia, Somalia, Palestine, Morocco, Turkey, Pakistan, Indonesia, Malaysia and the League of Arab States.

Activities

Tuesday, August 4, 2026

Egypt’s Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Cooperation, and Egyptian Expatriates, departed for the Jordanian capital, Amman, on Tuesday, August 4, 2026, to participate in the Ministerial Meeting on Jerusalem.

Wednesday, August 5, 2026

Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Badr Abdelatty delivered a speech at the Ministerial Meeting in Support of Jerusalem and Its Holy Sites in the Jordanian capital, Amman, warning that the Palestinian cause is passing through what may be the most dangerous turning point in its history

Abdelatty stated that Israel’s current practices constitute a desperate attempt to alter the historic status quo in occupied East Jerusalem (Al Quds) and dismantle the Hashemite Custodianship. He stressed that these attempts would fail to bring Israel greater control or security, serving instead to trigger a dangerous escalation and a complete loss of control over the situation.

He noted that the ministers convened at a critical juncture when holy sites are being violated, the historic status quo is being systematically undermined, Palestinian blood is being shed in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip, and schemes for the forced displacement of Palestinians are being openly discussed. He added that conditions in occupied East Jerusalem continue to deteriorate, with daily incursions by extremists and mounting threats to the freedom of worship for both Christians and Muslims, backed directly by extremist ministers within the Israeli government.

Abdelatty affirmed Egypt’s categorical rejection of all Israeli measures aimed at Judaizing occupied Jerusalem, altering its Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity, or imposing unilateral facts on the ground to alter its legal, historical, and demographic status. He strongly condemned all attempts to undermine the historical and legal status quo at the holy sites—particularly the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound—and denounced any attempts to impose spatial or temporal divisions, describing such acts as a direct threat to regional and international security.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s full, unwavering support for the historic Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem. He highly commended the tireless efforts undertaken by the Directorate of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem Endowments (Awqaf), affiliated with Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs, and Holy Places, in preserving the integrity of the sanctuary.

“Today we stand at a crossroads,” Abdelatty stated. “Either we move forward on the path of peace and conflict resolution, or we descend into a deep cycle of violence, instability, further escalation, and the fueling of conflict by extremists.” He maintained that without a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian issue, regional stability will remain unattainable.

Pointing to the intensive mediation efforts undertaken by Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, and the United States, Abdelatty highlighted the complex push to end the devastating war in Gaza and implement the comprehensive peace and ceasefire roadmap. He explained that while the mediators’ efforts had achieved tangible progress toward a Palestinian consensus on security and governance arrangements correlated with a full Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, Israel’s response has been the continued targeting of civilians and children. He emphasized that Israel must strictly fulfill all of its obligations under the agreed-upon ceasefire frameworks.

Furthermore, Abdelatty drew attention to what he termed the “silent annexation” and the dangerous expansion of illegal Israeli settlements, which are consuming the remaining Palestinian land in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at an unprecedented pace. He warned that escalating settler violence, systemic harassment, and repeated structural violations have become a deliberate policy of the Israeli government, threatening to obliterate any remaining prospects for a viable two-state solution.

He called for immediate, robust international action to halt these unlawful practices, particularly settlement plans designed to fragment the West Bank geographically. Abdelatty reiterated Egypt’s absolute rejection of any plans to forcibly displace or uproot the Palestinian people from their land, whether in the West Bank, the Gaza Strip, or East Jerusalem, under any pretext.

Concluding his address, the Egyptian Foreign Minister welcomed the ongoing reform measures being undertaken by the Palestinian Authority. He stressed the vital importance of Palestinian national unity at this critical juncture, underscoring the central role of the Palestinian Authority and the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) as the sole legitimate representatives of the Palestinian people. He asserted that the Palestinian Authority must fully assume its administrative and security responsibilities throughout the occupied territories, reinforcing the political unity and territorial integrity of both the West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Joint Statement adopted at the Ministerial Meeting in Support of Jerusalem and Its Holy Sites

At the invitation of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Foreign Ministers of the Arab States members of the Arab Ministerial Committee tasked with mobilizing international action in response to illegal Israeli policies and actions in the occupied city of Jerusalem (the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the Republic of Tunisia, the People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria, the Republic of Iraq, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Federal Republic of Somalia, the State of Palestine, the Arab Republic of Egypt and the Kingdom of Morocco, together with the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States), and the Foreign Ministers and representatives of the Republic of Indonesia, the Islamic Republic of Pakistan, the Republic of Türkiye and Malaysia, met in Amman on Wednesday, 5 August 2026, to discuss the dangerous and unprecedented Israeli escalation in the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites, and to launch joint action to confront all illegitimate Israeli measures that are driving the region towards further conflict.

The participants agreed to:

1. Condemn Israeli policies and measures aimed at altering the Arab Islamic and Christian identity of occupied Jerusalem and its legal and demographic status, and reject such measures as null and void, without legal effect, and as a flagrant violation of international law and Israel’s obligations as the Occupying Power.
2. Reaffirm that East Jerusalem is part of the occupied Palestinian territory, and that Israel has no sovereignty over it. Reemphasize that East Jerusalem is the capital of the State of Palestine, and that the realization of a free, independent and sovereign Palestinian State on the lines of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living in security and peace alongside Israel, on the basis of the two-State solution and in accordance with international law, the relevant United Nations resolutions, and the Arab Peace Initiative, is the only path to achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace. And reaffirm the New York Declaration on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine and the Implementation of the Two-State Solution.
3. Condemn all Israeli violations at the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, all attempts to alter its historic and legal status quo and impose temporal and spatial division, including the escalating incursions by extremist settlers, Israeli ministers and officials, facilitated and protected by the Israeli occupation authorities; the accompanying provocative practices and inflammatory statements; restrictions on access for worshippers to the Mosque and assaults against them; obstruction of the work of the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department; and the continued illegal excavations beneath the Mosque and in its vicinity.
4. Affirm that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif, with its entire area of 144 dunums, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf, Islamic Affairs and Holy Sites, is the sole legal authority with exclusive jurisdiction to administer all affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque/Al-Haram Al-Sharif and regulate entry thereto.
5. Condemn Israeli violations targeting Christian holy sites and threatening the historic Christian presence in Jerusalem, including restrictions on access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and the observance of religious rites therein; interference in the affairs of churches and restrictions imposed on their institutions and properties; and attacks targeting clergy, worshippers and religious symbols.
6. Support the historic Hashemite Custodianship over the Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, and its role in protecting these holy sites, safeguarding their Arab Islamic and Christian identity, and preserving the historic and legal status quo.
7. Support the resilience and empowerment of Jerusalemites in confronting challenges and safeguarding their presence in their city, by providing all forms of development assistance and strengthening and protecting Palestinian institutions in Jerusalem.
8. Recognize the importance of the role of the Al-Quds Committee and its executive arm, the Bayt Mal Al-Quds Al-Sharif Agency, and support all efforts undertaken by the Committee.
9. Warn that Israeli attacks against Islamic holy sites in occupied Jerusalem constitute a blatant provocation to the sentiments of around two billion Muslims worldwide, and push towards a religious conflict with repercussions that will extend beyond the region and threaten regional and international peace and security.
10. Call upon the international community and the Security Council to act immediately to halt all Israel’s illegitimate measures in occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites, which are intensifying within the context of a systematic Israeli policy to entrench the occupation in the city of Jerusalem and throughout the occupied Palestinian territory through settlement expansion, land annexation, the suffocation of the Palestinian economy, the targeting of Palestinian national institutions, the escalating settler terrorism, and the targeting the UNRWA, while Israel’s violations of the Gaza ceasefire agreement continue and the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza worsens, thereby undermining the two-State solution and all prospects for achieving a just and comprehensive peace and fueling tension and conflict in the region.
11. Reject any unilateral decision that violates the legal status of the occupied city of Jerusalem, including the establishment or relocation of diplomatic missions to the city; affirm that such decisions violate international law and relevant United Nations resolutions; and call upon the states concerned to reverse them.
12. Launch joint action to mobilize an effective international response to halt these escalatory and illegitimate Israeli practices, measures and policies, and to compel Israel, the Occupying Power, to respect the historic and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.
13. Launch a sustainable, institutional and operational mechanism, including a media platform, to document and expose Israeli violations against the holy sites and worshipers, and to expose their catastrophic repercussions, which are pushing towards a religious conflict and undermining regional and international peace and security, in international organizations and before global public opinion; provide the necessary support for this mechanism.
14. Call for the convening of a joint ministerial meeting of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States during the high-level week of the United Nations General Assembly in New York next September, to discuss the dangerous Israeli escalation in Jerusalem and its holy sites and ways to confront it.
15. Thank the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan for organizing this meeting.