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Jordan Says Israel’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Restrictions Are Pushing Towards ‘Explosion’ 

People walk before taking part in the evening "Tarawih" prayers during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City March 10, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk before taking part in the evening "Tarawih" prayers during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City March 10, 2024. (Reuters)
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Jordan Says Israel’s Al-Aqsa Mosque Restrictions Are Pushing Towards ‘Explosion’ 

People walk before taking part in the evening "Tarawih" prayers during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City March 10, 2024. (Reuters)
People walk before taking part in the evening "Tarawih" prayers during of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, at Al-Aqsa compound, known to Jews as Temple Mount, in Jerusalem’s Old City March 10, 2024. (Reuters)

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Monday restrictions imposed by Israel on Muslim worshippers' access to Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque compound during the Muslim holy fasting month was pushing the situation towards an "explosion".

In remarks on state media, Safadi said his country rejected Israel's announced move to limit access to the holy site during Ramadan, citing security needs with war raging in Gaza.

Jordan echoes the Palestinian view that such restrictions were an attack on freedom of worship, he said.

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Israel Approves Controversial Project in West Bank

A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
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Israel Approves Controversial Project in West Bank

A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)
A Palestinian woman is reflected in a bulletproof window at an Israeli checkpoint in Bethlehem, in the occupied West Bank, on March 28, 2025, as she arrives to travel to the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in Jerusalem's Old City for the last Friday noon prayer of Ramadan. (AFP)

The Israeli security Cabinet approved on Sunday the construction of a road for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank. Critics say it will open the door for Israel to annex a key area just outside Jerusalem, further undermining the feasibility of a future Palestinian state.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the project is meant to streamline travel for Palestinians in communities near the large Jewish settlement of Maaleh Adumim.

Peace Now, an Israeli anti-settlement watchdog group, said the road will divert Palestinian traffic outside of Maaleh Adumim and the surrounding area known as E1, a tract of open land deemed essential for the territorial contiguity of a future state.

That will make it easier for Israel to annex E1, according to Hagit Ofran, a settlement expert with the group, because Israel can claim there is no disruption to Palestinian movement.

Critics say Israeli settlements and other land grabs make a contiguous future state increasingly impossible. Several roads in the West Bank are meant for use by either Israelis or Palestinians, which international rights groups say is part of an apartheid system, allegations Israel rejects.

Israel captured the West Bank, Gaza and east Jerusalem in the 1967 Mideast war. The Palestinians want all three for their future state. A two-state solution is widely seen as the only way to resolve the decades-old conflict.