The United Arab Emirates strongly condemned on Mondau the storming of Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard by extremists under the protection of Israeli forces.
In a statement, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation reiterated its firm position on the need to provide full protection for Al-Aqsa Mosque and halt serious and provocative violations taking place there.
It underscored the need to respect the custodial role of Jordan over the holy sites and endowments in accordance with international law and the historical situation at hand, and not to compromise the authority of the Jerusalem Endowment Administration and Al Aqsa Mosque.
The ministry called on Israeli authorities to assume responsibility for reducing escalation and ending all attacks and practices that lead to the continuation of tensions, while underscoring the need to exercise maximum restraint to avoid further instability.
Moreover, it stressed the need to support all regional and international efforts to advance the Middle East peace process and end illegal practices that threaten the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
On Sunday, the Jordanian government condemned the storming of Al-Aqsa mosque by Israeli extremists and a Knesset member, warning of escalation due to permitting the Israeli flag march.
Thousands of Israeli nationalists, some of them chanting "Death to Arabs," paraded through the heart of the main Palestinian thoroughfare in Jerusalem’s Old City on Sunday, in a show of force that risked setting off a new wave of violence in the tense city.
Jordanian Foreign Ministry’s spokesperson Haitham Abu Alfoul said that "the Israeli raids, protected by the Israeli police, are a violation of the historical and legal status quo and international law, stressing that Al-Aqsa Mosque is purely a place of worship for Muslims and that the Jordanian-run Waqf (endowments) and Al-Aqsa Affairs Administration in Jerusalem has the exclusive jurisdiction to run all the affairs of the holy site."
Abu Alfoul called on Israel to stop practices and violations against the Al-Aqsa Mosque, respect its sanctity, halt measures aimed at altering the historical and legal status quo, and respect the Waqf and Al-Aqsa Affairs Administration in Jerusalem.
