AMMAN (Dispatches) – Jordan has sent an official note of protest to the Zionist regime in the wake of continued aggression against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, warning that the violations of the holy site by regime troops and settlers will provoke sentiments of Muslims around the world.
In a statement, Jordanian foreign ministry spokesman Haitham Abu al-Ful denounced the blatant violations of the sanctity of the Al-Aqsa Mosque, calling for restraint. Jordan is the custodian of the holy sites in occupied Al-Quds.
It came after hundreds of Zionist settlers on Monday stormed the holy mosque in occupied East Al-Quds’ Old City and hoisted the occupying regime’s regime flags, in a move deemed “provocative” by Palestinians.
Accompanied by heavily-armed Zionist troops, the settlers stormed the mosque compound on Monday morning and again in the afternoon, local media reported.
One Palestinian man was arrested when he tried to obstruct the settlers, said a report.
Abu al-Ful said the Jordanian foreign ministry has sent a letter to the occupying regime, calling on it to “stop its violations and provocations, and respect the historical and legal status quo as well as the sanctity of the mosque,” as reported by Jordan’s Petra News Agency.
The spokesman said Jordan “rejects and condemns” these violations by the regime, which “provoke the sentiments of Muslims around the world.”
He further stressed that the holy mosque is a place of worship for Muslims and that the Waqf (Endowment) Department, which is responsible for the affairs of the Al-Aqsa mosque, is a “legal body with exclusive jurisdiction to run all of the affairs of the mosque and to regulate entry and exit from it.”
Jordan’s Hashemite ruling family has been the sole custodian of the Muslim and Christian holy sites in East Al-Quds, including the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Temple Mount, since 1924.