Jordan’s Foreign Ministry summoned on Tuesday the Israeli ambassador in Amman in protest against Israeli far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir’s storming of Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque earlier that day.
According to the state news agency Petra, the Ministry Spokesperson Sinan Majali said that the ambassador received a letter of protest to be delivered immediately to his government, noting that the letter stressed the importance for ‘Israel’, as the occupying power, to adhere to its obligations as per international law and specifically international humanitarian law, regarding Jerusalem and its holy sites, especially Al Aqsa Mosque.
Jordan, which is the custodian of the contested compound, earlier condemned the storming in the “severest” terms, saying that Ben-Gvir’s “storming” of the holy site not only violates the status quo, but also requires “international intervention.
The letter stressed that ‘Israel’ must abstain from any procedures that could tamper with the sanctity of holy places, and put an end to all attempts to change the historical and legal status quo in the city, Majali added in a ministry statement.
The spokesperson reiterated that the letter stressed that Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif, with its total area of 144 dunums, is a place of worship for Muslims alone, and urged the Israeli government to immediately stop all procedures that aim to interfere unacceptably in the affairs of Al Aqsa Mosque.
The letter also reminded ‘Israel’ that the Jordan-run Jerusalem Awqaf and Aqsa Affairs Department has the “exclusive authority” to supervise the holy site’s affairs and manage entries to the site.
The letter warned that ongoing attacks and violations at holy sites can only contribute to further escalation and represent a dangerous step that must be stopped instantly.
Earlier on Tuesday, Ben-Gvir broke into the holy site amid tight security measures. The break-in lasted for 13 minutes, local sources reported.
He requested to break into the site on Monday claiming that the visit was intended to mark the fast of the Tenth of Tevet.
On Sunday, Ben-Gvir said he would visit the holy site in the near future. New Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reportedly spoke with Ben-Gvir on Monday to discuss his intention to visit the site. The Likud confirmed that, following consultations with security establishment officials, Netanyahu did not object to Ben-Gvir’s break-in.
Ben-Gvir’s last storming of the holy site took place last March and lasted about fifteen minutes.
Since 2014, stormings by Israeli occupation officials to the Al-Aqsa Mosque have been considered provocations and a threat to the status quo. Former Israeli prime minister Ariel Sharon’s storming to the site in 2000 sparked the Second Palestinian Intifada, or uprising.
Ben-Gvir was sworn in last week as part of a new government led by Benjamin Netanyahu.
In response to Ben-Gvir’s Sunday remarks, the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas warned that such a step will explode the situation.
“Any escalation in Al-Aqsa Mosque will explode the situation and the occupation government will be responsible for this,” Hamas spokesman Abdel-Latif al-Qanoua said in a statement published Monday.
He added that the planned visit was “another example of the arrogance of the settler government and their future plans to damage and divide Al-Aqsa mosque”.
“The Palestinian resistance will not allow the neo-fascist occupation government to cross the red lines and encroach on our people and our sanctities.”
According to a report by the Lebanese Al-Mayadeen news channel, Hamas “won’t sit idly by” if Ben-Gvir goes to the site, violating an agreement banning non-Muslims from entering the site without permission.
Israel’s opposition leader and former prime minister Yair Lapid had warned that such a visit by Ben-Gvir would spark violence.
A string of condemnations from several Arab countries, including the UAE, Saudi Arabia, Algeria, and Morocco, quickly followed Ben-Gvir’s storming of the holy site.
Hamas slammed the storming, saying the “crime of the fascist Zionist Ben-Gvir in breaking into Al-Aqsa Mosque is a continuation of the Zionist occupation’s aggression against our sanctity and our Arab identity.”
The Palestinian Foreign Ministry also said Tuesday it “strongly condemns the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by the extremist minister Ben-Gvir and views it as unprecedented provocation and a dangerous escalation of the conflict.”
