AMMAN: Jordan’s Foreign Ministry has objected to the growing number of non-Muslims entering Al-Aqsa Mosque while under Israeli security protection.
In a strongly worded statement, ministry spokesperson Deifallah Al-Fayez on Thursday accused Israel of violating the historical and legal status quo of the mosque and ignoring its commitments “as the occupier of East Jerusalem.”
Al-Fayez said that Al-Haram Al-Sharif/Al-Aqsa Mosque, comprising all 144 dunums, is a holy place solely for Muslims.
“The Jerusalem waqf and the department of Al-Aqsa affairs are part of the Jordanian government’s exclusive right to run and arrange all issues related to the holy site, including the regulation of entry to the site in accordance with international law and historic status quo,” Al-Fayez said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu agreed in 2014 that Al-Aqsa Mosque is for Muslims to pray and for all others to visit.
However, Israel has refused to recognize the Jordanian waqf’s responsibility and insists on forcibly entering the mosque using the Moghrabi gate, the only gate to the Muslim holy site that has no waqf guards. All other gates have a joint Israel police and waqf guards.
Waqf sources told Arab News that in the past week the number of Israeli radicals unilaterally entering the mosque has increased.
The Nov. 13, 2014 understanding reached in the presence of then US Secretary of State John Kerry included a provision that visitors in groups of no more than 15 could visit the mosque during non-prayer hours.
The understanding also stipulated that the visitors are not repeat visitors and should not include known radicals, many of whom are calling for the destruction of the mosque and its replacement with a Jewish temple.
The current increase in visitor numbers is due to the Jewish Passover holiday and a relaxation of coronavirus restrictions in Israel.
In the letter of protest, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry called on the international community to pressure Israel to respect the historic status quo of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex.
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‘Illegal’ Al-Aqsa visitors spark Jordan protest
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‘Illegal’ Al-Aqsa visitors spark Jordan protest
- Israel has been accused of violating the historical and legal status quo of the mosque
Israeli strikes kill five in Gaza, health officials say
CAIRO: Israeli airstrikes and gunfire killed five Palestinians in Gaza on Tuesday, health officials said, the latest violence to undermine a four-month-old, US-brokered truce in the enclave.
In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al-Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said.
Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four militants in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops.
Without commenting directly on the four people killed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas militants in response to Monday’s incident in Rafah.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night.
One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signaling that the two were members of the militant group.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Trading blame
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war.
At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
The Gaza war started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to Palestinian health ministry data.
In Deir Al-Balah in central Gaza, an airstrike killed two people who were riding an electric bike, medics said. Later, Israeli drone fire killed a woman in Deir Al-Balah and troops shot dead a man in Khan Younis in the south, they said.
Another man was killed by Israeli gunfire in Jabalia in north Gaza, Palestinian medics said.
The violence came a day after Israeli forces killed four militants in the southern city of Rafah after they emerged from an underground tunnel and opened fire on troops.
Without commenting directly on the four people killed on Tuesday, the Israeli military said it had carried out attacks targeting what it described as Hamas militants in response to Monday’s incident in Rafah.
In Gaza City, dozens of Palestinians rallied at the funerals of three people who were killed by an Israeli airstrike on an apartment building in the area on Monday night.
One body was wrapped in a Hamas green flag, while another had a green Hamas ribbon on his forehead, signaling that the two were members of the militant group.
Reuters was not able to ascertain the identities of those killed.
Trading blame
Israel and Hamas have repeatedly traded blame for violations of the ceasefire deal, a key element of US President Donald Trump’s plan to end the Gaza war, the deadliest and most destructive in the generations-old Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
The next phase of Trump’s plan involves Hamas disarming, Israel withdrawing its troops from Gaza, and the deployment of an international peacekeeping force. Hamas has long rejected calls to lay down its arms and Israeli officials say they are preparing for a return to full-scale war.
At least 580 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli fire since the October ceasefire deal was struck, Gaza’s health ministry says. Israel says four soldiers have been killed by militants in Gaza over the same period.
The Gaza war started with the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on southern Israel that killed more than 1,200 people, according to Israeli tallies. Israel’s air and ground war in Gaza has killed more than 72,000 people since then, according to Palestinian health ministry data.
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