Jordan on Sunday warned Israel against violating the status quo on Jerusalem’s Temple Mount, after several hundred Jews and tourists visited the contested holy site on the first intermediate day of the Passover holiday.
The Hashemite Kingdom acts as custodian of the flashpoint religious site, which is the holiest site in Judaism and third holiest to Muslims.
Israel’s “violations against worshipers” on the holy site “are a violation of international laws and conventions” and could have “dangerous consequences,” government spokesman Muhammad Al-Momani said in a statement to the Petra state news agency.
Momani did not detail the violations, but he was likely referring to holiday measures enacted over the last several days, including expanded visiting hours for Jews and denial of entry to Palestinian worshipers during certain hours, as well as a beefed up police presence.
Momani “demanded Israeli occupation authorities to immediately stop such moves, deny entry to settlers and Israeli forces into the yards of the holy shrine and allow Palestinian worshipers to enter the mosque,” according to Petra.
Aside from Muslim worshipers, a total of 1,043 people visited the site Sunday, of whom 168 were Israeli Jews and the rest foreign tourists, police said.
Of them, 13 Jewish visitors were removed from the Temple Mount compound for “disturbing the peace,” according to police, including three minors. One Palestinian was removed.
Police did not detail why they had removed the 13 people from the site, known as the Al-Aqsa compound to Muslims, but Jews are often ejected for uttering prayers at the site, which is governed by a decades-long status quo that allows Jewish visits but prohibits Jewish prayer.
Read more at Times of Israel
