At the invitation of the State of Palestine and the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan, the General Secretariat of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation held today, April 8, 2023, at its headquarters in Jeddah, an extraordinary meeting of the Open-ended Executive Committee on the issue of the continuation of Israeli aggression; Illegal colonial occupation power over the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque. His Excellency Organization Secretary General Hussein Ibrahim Taha reiterated the organization’s rejection and strong condemnation of all Israeli occupation policies and measures aimed at destroying the personality of Al-Quds. Al-Sharif, stressing that it is an integral part of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the capital of the State of Palestine, and that the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque as a whole is a pure place of worship for Muslims only.
The Secretary General also updated the organization’s position on the course of events in the blessed Al-Aqsa in his address to the extraordinary assembly, noting that the assembly is taking place at a time when conditions experienced by the Holy City of Al-Quds Al-Sharif and its Islamic shrines are deteriorating as a result of an escalating pace of egregious violations and aggression by Israel through the storming by occupying forces and extremist settlers of the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and their brutal attacks on worshipers in courtyards, injuring and arresting hundreds of them, which constitutes a flagrant violation of the sanctity of holy places and freedom of religion, as well as the Geneva Conventions and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The Secretary-General warned against any attempt to change the historical and legal status of Islamic and Christian shrines in Al-Quds Al-Sharif, especially the Al-Aqsa Mosque, holding the Israeli occupation fully responsible for the consequences of these serious crimes and violations. which will fuel violence and tension and destabilize security and stability in the region.
His Excellency Hussein Ibrahim Taha emphasized that all Israeli decisions and policies aimed at changing the geographical and demographic status of the city and affecting the historical and legal status of holy places in it have no legal force and are considered invalid in accordance with international law and the relevant resolutions of the United Nations Nations.
