Jordan denounces Israel meddling in al-Aqsa Mosque affairs, violations in al-Quds
Jordan has lambasted Israel for interfering in the affairs of the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in the occupied Old City of Jerusalem al-Quds, calling on the regime to respect the city’s status quo and stop its violations.
In an official letter to Tel Aviv on Thursday, the Jordanian ministry of foreign affairs demanded the occupying entity to desist from any act that violates the historical and legal status quo of the city, Palestine’s official news agency WAFA reported.
According to the spokesman for the Jordanian foreign ministry, Dhaifallah al-Fayez, whose country is the custodian of the holy sites at the compound, the letter further strongly called on Tel Aviv to respect the authority of Jordan's Awqaf and al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department over the holy sites.
The letter particularly denounced the ongoing Israeli violations in the holy al-Aqsa Mosque, the latest of which was allowing incursions into the mosque's yards by a large number of extremist settlers under the protection of the Israeli police forces, Fayez added in a press statement.
The al-Aqsa Mosque compound sits just above the Western Wall plaza and houses both the Dome of the Rock and the al-Aqsa Mosque.
The Jewish visitation of al-Aqsa is permitted, but according to an agreement signed between Israel and the Jordanian government after Israel’s occupation of East Jerusalem al-Quds in 1967, non-Muslim worship at the compound is prohibited.
However, the number of Israeli lawmakers who storm the sacred compound has increased after prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu decided in July 2018 to allow such visits once every three months.
Many of the Knesset members are right-wing extremists, who support the demolition of the Islamic site in order to build a Jewish temple instead.
The Jordanian official condemned the Israeli actions against the mosque as unacceptable and stressed that the al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 14,400 square meters, is a purely Islamic worship place.
Fayez also urged the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and pressure the Israeli regime to halt the ongoing violations of the Haram al-Sharif.
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