Jordan calls ‘Israel’ to respect status quo in Jerusalem

Amman (QNN)- Jordan has called on the occupation state of ‘Israel’ to stop meddling in the affairs of Al-Aqsa Mosque in the occupied Jerusalem and respect the city’s status quo.
In an official letter, the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates has demanded that ‘Israel’, as the occupying power, desist from any act that violates the historical and legal status quo of occupied Jerusalem and respect the authority the Jerusalem’s Awqaf (Endowment) department over the Muslim holy compound and other Islamic shrines in the occupied city, according to Dhaifallah al-Fayez, spokesman for the foreign ministry.
دانت وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين استمرار الإنتهاكات الإسرائيلية في المسجد الأقصى المبارك / الحرم القدسي الشريف وآخرها السماح باقتحامات المتطرفين للمسجد وبأعداد كبيرة تحت حماية الشرطة الإسرائيلية خرقاً صارخاً للوضع القائم القانوني والتاريخي والقانون الدولي. pic.twitter.com/k7ixO3RHQh
— وزارة الخارجية الأردنية (@ForeignMinistry) April 1, 2021
Al-Fayez also condemned the ongoing Israeli violations in the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque, the latest of which was allowing incursions into the Mosque yards by a large number of Israeli settlers under the protection of the occupation police.
He said that the Israeli actions against the Mosque are unacceptable and represent a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status quo, international law, and the obligations of ‘Israel’, the occupying power, in occupied East Jerusalem.
He emphasized that Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 144,00 square meters, is a purely Islamic worship place, and that the Jordan government’s Awqaf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department is the body that has exclusive jurisdiction over the entire Mosque compound and decides who enter it in accordance with international law and the historical and legal status quo.
Al-Fayez called on the international community to shoulder its responsibilities and pressure ‘Israel’ to stop the ongoing violations of Al-Aqsa Mosque.
‘Israel’ occupied East Jerusalem, in which the Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli War. It annexed the entire city in 1980 in a move never recognized by the international community.
Sacred to Muslims, Christians and Jews, Jerusalem is home to the Al-Aqsa Mosque, which for Muslims represents the world’s third holiest site.
Jews refer to the area as the “Temple Mount,” claiming it was the site of two prominent Jewish temples in ancient times. The complex also includes the Church of the Holy Sepulchre, one of the most sacred Christian sites in the world.
Israeli occupation authorities allow settler incursions to the mosque since 2003, despite repeated objections and warnings by the Palestinian religious authorities as the visits provoke worshippers of the mosque.