Jordan condemns Israeli Jerusalem violations

AMMAN — Jordan on Monday condemned Jewish extremists’ storming of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif in Jerusalem, conducted under the protection of Israeli occupation forces.

Awqaf Minister Wael Arabiyat voiced Jordan's denunciation of the transgression, when more than 400 extremists barged into the compound on Sunday, according to a ministry statement carried by the Jordan News Agency, Petra. 

More than 20 Israeli troops and 27 extremists also stormed the shrine on Monday at dawn and remained there until 10am. 

Arabiyat said that the arrest of worshippers and assaults on them by the occupation forces is a “barefaced challenge to Muslims' feelings and a clear violation of international conventions”.

The minister saluted the Jerusalemites, who stood in defiance of the Israeli intruders in defence of the holy shrine. He urged the Arab League, the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and UN agencies to pressure the Israeli authorities to stop their recurrent assaults, which he described as “a failed attempt to change the status quo” of the holy city.

He also warned that if such violations continue, a religious war would erupt in the region, a possibility His Majesty King Abdullah warned against repeatedly.