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The General Secretariat of the Arab League issued a statement from Cairo condemning calls by Israeli settler groups to storm the Al-Aqsa Mosque on July 23 as a grave escalation that breaches the site’s historic and legal status quo. It described any actions taken under the protection of Israeli occupation authorities as an extension of systematic policies aimed at imposing new realities in occupied Jerusalem. These moves flout international law and relevant United Nations resolutions while representing an affront to the sanctity of Islamic holy sites. The statement assigned full responsibility to Israel as the occupying power for all potential outcomes.
The Arab League warned that the violations carried dangerous implications for regional security, stability and prospects for peace if allowed to proceed. It called on the international community, particularly the UN Security Council, the United Nations and UNESCO, to shoulder their legal responsibilities and take urgent concrete measures to stop the incursions. The statement further demanded protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and preservation of its existing arrangements along with respect for the Hashemite Custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.
Palestinian authorities had flagged the planned event as potentially the largest mass incursion to date under the anniversary pretext, according to the official Palestinian news agency WAFA. The Jerusalem Governorate issued an earlier alert on the scale of preparations by extremist groups, which monitor activity at the compound. Such incidents have grown more frequent in recent years with WAFA reporting single-day totals exceeding 3,000 settlers on multiple occasions.
Separate tallies from the office of the Governor of Jerusalem placed settler entries at more than 7,000 during May 2026 alone, a figure that includes both incursions and claimed tourist visits under heavy security escort. The United Nations has separately documented a sharp rise in overall settler attacks across the occupied West Bank to around six per day in 2026. These patterns have heightened tensions around access to the Al-Aqsa compound during sensitive Jewish commemorative dates.
The Arab League statement reaffirmed its consistent support for the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people including their right to establish an independent sovereign state. That state would sit along the June 4, 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital under relevant international legitimacy resolutions. The position aligns with the Arab Peace Initiative that has guided the organization’s approach to the conflict for more than two decades.
