Jordan on Alert to Counter Israeli Attacks on Al-Aqsa

A protest in Haifa in support for Al-Aqsa Mosque (Wafa)
A protest in Haifa in support for Al-Aqsa Mosque (Wafa)
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Jordan on Alert to Counter Israeli Attacks on Al-Aqsa

A protest in Haifa in support for Al-Aqsa Mosque (Wafa)
A protest in Haifa in support for Al-Aqsa Mosque (Wafa)

Jordan’s Foreign Ministry summoned the Israeli Chargé d’Affaires on Monday to convey a message in protest of all Israeli provocative violations in the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem and to assert the need to respect worshipers’ right to practice their religious rites freely and without restrictions.

Foreign Ministry spokesman Haitham Abul Ful said the Chargé d'Affaires was handed a letter of protest to his government, including a demand to immediately cease Israeli violations and attempts to change the historical and legal status of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and to impose a temporal and spatial division of the holy compound, Petra News Agency reported.

The spokesman condemned the attacks on the mosque as a serious escalation and a violation of international law.

Meanwhile, 87 Jordanian deputies submitted on Monday a parliamentary memorandum demanding the expulsion of the Israeli ambassador from Amman, after the series of attacks carried out by the Israeli forces inside the Holy Mosque and the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

In response, Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that the government would convey a written warning to the Israeli embassy in Amman, to demand an immediate halt of the violations at the Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Jordan’s King Abdullah II, who remained on a therapeutic trip outside the country following an urgent surgical intervention, held telephone conversations with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, Sheikh Mohammed bin Zayed Al Nahyan, Crown Prince of Abu Dhabi Deputy Supreme Commander of Armed Forces in the United Arab Emirates, Prince of Qatar Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and President of the European Council, Charles Michel, in order to mobilize international efforts to stop all provocative actions against the historical and legal status on the holy sites.

For his part, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al Khasawneh said that Israel “bears full responsibility for the consequences of the escalation, which undermines all efforts to maintain comprehensive calm.”



Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
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Syria’s Al-Sharaa Says No to Arms Outside State Control

Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)
Syria's new leader Ahmed al-Sharaa (C) arrives for a meeing with visiting Druze officials from Lebanon's Progressive Socialist Party (PSP) in Damascus on December 22, 2024. (Photo by AFP)

Syria's de facto leader Ahmed al-Sharaa said his administration would announce the new structure of the defense ministry and military within days.

In a joint press conference with Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan on Sunday, al-Sharaa said that his administration would not allow for arms outside the control of the state.

An official source told Reuters on Saturday that Murhaf Abu Qasra, a leading figure in the insurgency that toppled Bashar al-Assad two weeks ago, had been named as defense minister in the interim government.
Sharaa did not mention the appointment of a new defense minister on Sunday.
Sharaa discussed the form military institutions would take during a meeting with armed factions on Saturday, state news agency SANA said.
Prime Minister Mohammed al-Bashir said last week that the defense ministry would be restructured using former opposition factions and officers who defected from Assad's army.

Earlier Sunday, Lebanon’s Druze leader Walid Jumblatt held talks with al-Sharaa in Damascus.

Jumblatt expressed hope that Lebanese-Syrian relations “will return to normal.”

“Syria was a source of concern and disturbance, and its interference in Lebanese affairs was negative,” al-Sharaa said, referring to the Assad government. “Syria will no longer be a case of negative interference in Lebanon," he added.