Jordan blasts Israeli minister’s storming of Al-Aqsa complex in Jerusalem

By Laith Al-Jnaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) — Jordan on Sunday termed Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque complex in occupied East Jerusalem as a “dangerous escalation.”

The far-right minister had forced his way into the flashpoint site early Sunday under Israeli police protection, in the second such tour since he joined the government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu late last year.

While inside the site, Ben-Gvir claimed Israel's ownership of the complex in a video message from the mosque's courtyard.

This is "a provocative step that is condemned, and a dangerous and unacceptable escalation," Foreign Ministry spokesman Sinan Majali said in a statement.

He said the intrusion “represents a flagrant violation of international law, and of the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.”

The status quo allows Muslims to worship at the Al-Aqsa complex and followers of other religions to visit the site.

“The continued breaches and attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, coupled with the unilateral measures of settlement expansion and the ongoing Israeli raids, may lead to further escalation,” Majali warned.

He called on the international community to take swift and decisive action to put an end to these practices.

The spokesman called on Israel, the occupying power, to immediately stop all practices and violations in the Al-Aqsa Mosque, and all measures aimed at changing the existing historical and legal status quo at the holy site.

Since 2003, Israel has allowed settlers into the flashpoint compound almost on a daily basis with the exception of Fridays and Saturdays.

For Muslims, Al-Aqsa represents Islam’s third-holiest site. Jews call the area the Temple Mount, saying it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where 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.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar