BAKU, Azerbaijan, March 31. Saudi Arabia and a number of Arab and Islamic countries have condemned Israel’s restriction on freedom of worship in Jerusalem, the Saudi Press Agency reported TurkicWorld reports via arabnews.
The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Jordan, Pakistan, Indonesia, Türkiye, Qatar, and the UAE condemned, in the strongest terms, and rejected the continued restrictions imposed by Israel on the freedom of worship for Muslims and Christians in occupied Jerusalem. The restrictions include the prevention of Muslim worshippers from accessing Al-Aqsa Mosque / Al-Haram Al-Sharif, and the prevention of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem and the Custos of the Holy Land from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to celebrate the Palm Sunday Mass.
The move sparked an international outcry that led Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to reverse the ban for the remainder of Holy Week.
The Latin Patriarchate of Jerusalem said Israeli police prevented Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa and Friar Francesco Ielpo from entering the Holy Sepulchre, built on the site where Christians believe Jesus was crucified and rose from the dead. The police cited security concerns related to the war in Iran for the ban.
“As a result, and for the first time in centuries, the Heads of the Church were prevented from celebrating the Palm Sunday Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” it said in a statement.
Netanyahu posted on social media just after midnight that he instructed relevant authorities to grant full and immediate access to the cardinal.
“Today, out of special concern for his safety, Cardinal Pizzaballa was asked to refrain from holding Mass at the Church of the Holy Sepulchre,” he said.
“Even though I understand this concern, as soon as I learned about the incident with Cardinal Pizzaballa, I instructed the authorities to enable the Patriarch to hold services as he wishes.”
Vatican second-in-command Secretary of State Cardinal Pietro Parolin, and its top diplomat, Archbishop Paul R. Gallagher, met with ambassador Yaron Sideman and “regrets were expressed regarding this incident, concerning which clarifications were provided,” the Vatican said.
Israeli police said all holy sites in Jerusalem’s Old City – including those sacred to Christians, Muslims and Jews – had been closed to worshippers since the start of the US-Israeli war on Iran, particularly locations without bomb shelters.
