RAMALLAH, August 21, 2026 (WAFA) — The Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) stated that the 57th anniversary of the arson attack on Al-Aqsa Mosque in 1969 coincides with an escalation in systematic attacks by Israeli colonists under the protection of Israeli forces.
In a statement issued by its Secretary-General, Hussein Ibrahim Taha, on Friday, the OIC said the attacks include daily incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, the performance of Talmudic rituals, the raising of flags within its courtyards, excavations beneath its foundations, and the prevention of worshippers from accessing it.
The OIC said these measures are part of a sinister attempt to divide the mosque temporally and spatially and to alter the existing legal and historical status quo of Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.
Taha reiterated that Jerusalem, the capital of the State of Palestine, is an integral part of the Palestinian territory occupied in 1967. He stressed the necessity of respecting the religious sentiments and rights of Muslims and their eternal connection to Al-Aqsa Mosque/Haram al-Sharif, with its entire 144-dunam area, as a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.
He affirmed that Israel, the occupying power, has no sovereignty over Jerusalem and its holy sites, and that all measures and actions it takes to alter the political and legal status of Jerusalem, and its attempts to Judaize the city and obliterate its Arab and Islamic identity, are null and void under international law and relevant United Nations resolutions.
The Secretary-General held the Israeli occupation responsible for the continued violations of freedom of worship and the sanctity and integrity of holy sites, which fuel violence and hatred and threaten to ignite a religious war with unpredictable consequences.
He reiterated the Organization's commitment to continuing its efforts to urge the international community to compel Israel, the occupying power, to cease all its crimes and violations in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem, to preserve the existing historical and legal status of the holy sites, to guarantee respect for their sanctity and freedom of worship therein, and to work towards ending the occupation and colonization, enabling the Palestinian people to realize the sovereignty of their independent state within the June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
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