New York:Qatar is advocating for coordinated diplomatic and media efforts to highlight Israeli violations in occupied East Jerusalem and to rally international support to stop them. The country is also working on establishing an institutional mechanism to monitor and document these violations for presentation to international organizations and global audiences.
According to Palestine News and Information Agency , this call was made by Qatar's Minister of State for Foreign Affairs, Mohammed bin Abdulaziz Al Khulaifi, during a joint ministerial meeting of the Arab League and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation. The meeting took place alongside the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly in New York, as detailed in a statement from Qatar's Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
Al Khulaifi emphasized Qatar's opposition to unilateral measures that aim to impose a new reality in Jerusalem and its holy sites, labeling such actions as invalid under international law and relevant international resolutions. He reiterated that Al-Aqsa Mosque is exclusively a place of worship for Muslims and expressed Qatar's support for the Hashemite custodianship of Jerusalem's Islamic and Christian holy sites. Qatar has recently echoed similar sentiments, condemning Israeli actions that affect the status quo at Al-Aqsa.
The Qatari initiative follows a significant increase in the number of Israeli settlers entering Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Jerusalem Governorate reported that 1,678 settlers entered the mosque on September 20 and 21, marking the highest number recorded during Yom Kippur. These incursions involved public and collective religious rituals and attempts to alter the holy site's reality.
Qatar continues to call for the cessation of actions that seek to change the historical and legal status of occupied East Jerusalem, reaffirming its support for establishing an independent Palestinian state based on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.