West Bank (MEMO) – The UK’s Middle East minister visited and prayed at Al-Aqsa Mosque in occupied East Al-Quds on Thursday, where he emphasized the UK’s support for Jordanian custodianship over the holy site.
Lord Tariq Ahmad visited the mosque after being blocked from entering for 30 minutes by Zionist troops, according to the BBC.
Ahmad, who is a Muslim, entered the site accompanied by the head of the Islamic Waqf, the religious authority which administers the site.
It was his first official visit to Palestine since becoming the minister of state for the Middle East and North Africa in June 2017.
“An honor and privilege to spend time at the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque this morning with the director of Al-Quds Waqf Department, Sheikh Azzam al-Khatib,” he tweeted.
“I emphasized the UK’s unwavering support for Jordanian custodianship of Al-Quds’ holy sites and for the status quo.”
Al-Aqsa Mosque is one of the holiest sites in Islam and the site of the Jewish temple destroyed by the Romans in 70 CE.
Jordan has been the official custodian of Christian and Muslim holy places in Al-Quds since 1924.
Since the Zionist regime occupied the site following the 1967 Middle East war, Jewish prayer at the site has been forbidden, though far-right settlers have frequently prayed there with the support of Zionist troops in recent years. Some religious activists want to demolish Al-Aqsa and replace it with a third Jewish temple.
Ahmad visited the occupied West Bank city of Al-Khalil, where he was shown around a school run by UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
He also visited Masafer Yatta, a collection of small Palestinian villages near Al-Khalil that the regime has designated a zone for military exercises. Residents have long been threatened with evictions and demolitions by Zionist authorities.
“I visited the site of a European and UK donor-funded school facing demolition,” Ahmad said.
“The UK continues to urge Israel to desist demolitions and evictions that cause unnecessary suffering and are illegal under [international humanitarian law] in all but the most exceptional circumstances.”
Ahmad also announced £3.7m ($4.5m) in additional UK funding to UNRWA to provide emergency food assistance to the most vulnerable people in the besieged Gaza enclave.