AMMAN (AA) – Laith Al-Junaidi

Jordan's warning comes at a time when Jerusalem is witnessing escalating tensions around Al-Aqsa Mosque.

- It considered the storming a flagrant violation of the historical and legal status of the holy compound

- Amman called on the international community to oblige Israel to stop its violations of holy sites

On Thursday, Jordan warned of the consequences of the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque by Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, a number of Knesset members, and groups of settlers, calling for obliging Israel to stop its violations of Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem.

The warning came after over 2,500 settlers, including Ben-Gvir, stormed Al-Aqsa Mosque on Thursday morning under heavy Israeli guard, in the largest such incursion in months, according to an Islamic Waqf official.

The Jordanian Foreign Ministry issued a statement affirming that this storming, under Israeli police protection and accompanied by assaults on worshippers and raising of Israeli flags, constitutes a 'flagrant violation' of the historical and legal status of the holy compound, a 'desecration' of the sanctity of the mosque, and an 'unacceptable provocation'.

The ministry stressed the Kingdom's absolute rejection and strong condemnation of these repeated incursions and of the Israeli police facilitation of them.

It considered that the Israeli police facilitation of these incursions constitutes a breach of international law and international humanitarian law, and a 'violation of Islamic and Christian holy sites in occupied Jerusalem.'

It added that these practices aim to impose new facts in Al-Aqsa Mosque by attempting to divide it temporally and spatially, stressing that 'Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites.'

It called on the international community to 'take a firm stance that obliges Israel, as the occupying power, to stop its ongoing violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites, and all provocative practices by Israeli officials and extremists.'

It stated that 'these provocations are a continuation of the Israeli government's policy aimed at continuing the dangerous escalation in the occupied West Bank.'

It reaffirmed that 'the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque, with its entire area of 144 dunams, is a pure place of worship for Muslims, and that the Jerusalem Waqf Department and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Holy Sites, is the legal entity with exclusive authority to manage all its affairs and regulate entry to it.'

Ben-Gvir published a video on his Telegram account from inside Al-Aqsa Mosque, in which he said: 'We are also witnessing tremendous progress on the Temple Mount (Al-Aqsa Mosque).'

Extremist Israeli right-wing groups had called for carrying out wide-scale incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque on the occasion of the so-called 'Tisha B'Av' (commemoration of the destruction of the Temple).

Israeli police have unilaterally allowed settlers to storm Al-Aqsa Mosque since 2003, while the Islamic Waqf Department in Jerusalem repeatedly demands a halt to these incursions, without response from Israeli authorities.

Jews annually observe, through fasting and mourning, what they call 'Tisha B'Av,' claiming that the Babylonians and Romans destroyed the First and Second Temples in 586 BCE and 70 CE respectively.

Palestinians say Israel is intensively working to Judaize the eastern part of Jerusalem and erase its Arab and Islamic identity, while they cling to it as the capital of their future state.

Jordan consistently affirms its rejection of any infringement on the historical and legal status of Jerusalem, and calls on the international community to take action. These incursions constitute a violation of international law. Arab and Islamic reactions to this provocative step are expected to escalate.