Jordan has called an emergency meeting of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic countries for 5 August 2026 in Amman, the capital of Jordan. The reason: Jordanian officials say Israel may be preparing to take control of the al-Aqsa mosque compound in Jerusalem. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will host the meeting, which includes Arab League ministers along with Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Pakistan and Saudi Arabia publicly welcomed the plan before the formal announcement on 4 August. The Guardian

The al-Aqsa mosque compound is one of the most sensitive religious sites in the world. It is holy to both Muslims and Jews, who call it the Temple Mount. For decades, a delicate arrangement called the "status quo" has kept the peace there: an Islamic religious trust called the Waqf manages the site, Israel controls security outside it, and non-Muslims can visit at certain times but only Muslims are allowed to pray there.

The immediate trigger for the meeting was an event on 23 July 2026. More than 2,000 Israelis from the religious right, led by National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, entered the compound and performed Jewish prayers and rituals in and around the mosque. Jordanian officials called it the worst violation of the status quo in modern history. They see it not as a one-off but as part of a pattern that is getting worse.

Jordan's alarm grew further after reports of a recruitment drive targeting religious Jews for a special police unit on the Temple Mount. Amman sees this as a sign that Israeli authorities may be preparing to change how the site operates on the ground. Jordan is also worried about September 2026, when Jewish holidays fall during an Israeli election campaign. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's far-right coalition is fighting to stay in power.

Jordan has warned that changing the status quo at al-Aqsa could spark a religious conflict that spreads across the Muslim world. History gives reason to take that warning seriously. In 2000, a visit to the compound by Ariel Sharon, then an opposition leader who soon became prime minister, helped ignite more than four years of violence known as the second intifada.

Jordan's role as guardian of the al-Aqsa compound goes back to the Ottoman Empire era and was formalized in the 1878 Treaty of Berlin. It was reaffirmed after the 1967 war, when Israel captured East Jerusalem and the Old City, and again in the 1994 peace treaty between Israel and Jordan. Under this arrangement, organized Jewish prayer inside the compound has long been a red line.

Jordan's concern goes beyond the compound. Amman is also watching Israel's military campaign in the West Bank, which Jordanian officials describe as ethnic cleansing. Jordan fears that as Israel's October 2026 elections approach, the situation in the West Bank could worsen and lead to mass displacement of Palestinians. That would put direct pressure on Jordan, which already hosts a large Palestinian population. In Amman's view, the al-Aqsa crisis and the West Bank situation are connected, both driven by the far-right's need to appeal to its base during election season.

The 5 August meeting is meant to produce a coordinated diplomatic response from Arab and Islamic countries. The inclusion of non-Arab Muslim states like Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan signals an effort to frame the al-Aqsa issue as a concern for the entire Muslim world, not just the Arab region.

The broader context here is whether any of this diplomatic pressure can actually change what Israel does on the ground. Netanyahu's far-right partners have shown they are willing to act on Temple Mount issues regardless of what other countries say. Jordan is treating this moment as different from past flare-ups because several risk factors are converging at once: a large incursion in July, a new Temple Mount police unit, and religious holidays colliding with an Israeli election campaign. Amman's choice to hold a big ministerial conference instead of quiet one-on-one diplomacy with Israel suggests it no longer thinks the usual back-channel approach is enough. The meeting on 5 August will be watched for whether it leads to real diplomatic action or stays at the level of statements and condemnation.