AMMAN — Jordan on Monday condemned an incursion by far-right Israeli national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir and groups of Israeli settlers into the Al Aqsa Mosque Compound/ Al Haram Al Sharif in occupied East Jerusalem, under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.

 

In a statement on Monday the Foreign Ministry warned against attempts to alter the historical and legal status quo of the Aqsa Mosque, Islam’s third holiest site.

 

The ministry slammed the storming into the mosque as a violation of international law and international humanitarian law, and a desecration of the holy site.

 

Ministry spokesperson Fouad Majali reaffirmed Jordan’s “categorical rejection of repeated incursions by Israeli ministers, officials and settlers, as well as their provocative practices.”

 

He also condemned Israeli occupation forces for providing protection and facilitating access to the compound.

 

Majali said that the repeated incursions sought to impose a new reality at the site by attempting to divide it temporally and spatially.

 

He stressed that Israel has no sovereignty over occupied Jerusalem or its Islamic and Christian holy sites, warning that continued violations and provocative actions could have serious consequences.

 

The ministry called on the international community to take a firm position and pressure Israel, as the occupying power, to halt unlawful practices against Jerusalem’s Islamic and Christian holy sites. It also urged Israel to end restrictions on worshippers’ access to Al Aqsa Mosque.

 

Majali reiterated Jordan’s position that the entire Al Aqsa Mosque Compound, Al Haram Al Sharif covering 144 dunums, is a place of worship exclusively for Muslims.

 

He added that the Jerusalem Awqaf and Al Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, which operates under Jordan’s Ministry of Awqaf, has exclusive legal authority to administer the compound and regulate access to it.