Jewish holidays have become occasions for stepped-up tensions at Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque complex with extremist Jewish settlers entering the flashpoint site in ever-increasing numbers a Jordanian official warned Friday.
In a statement carried by Jordan’s official Petra news agency government spokesman Mohamed al-Momani condemned “provocative and irresponsible” acts by Israel which he said “violate the sanctity of this holy place and provoke the feelings of Muslims”.
“Such acts violate Israel’s obligations under international law as the occupying power in East Jerusalem” he said.
“International conventions call for respect to be paid to the places of worship of all religions” al-Momani added.
He urged Israel to immediately halt such provocations and show respect for Al-Aqsa’s historical and religious importance with reference to Jordan’s supervisory role over East Jerusalem’s Muslim and Christian holy sites.
On Thursday hundreds of Jewish settlers entered the Al-Aqsa complex — the largest incursion since the Jewish Passover holiday began last Friday according to Jerusalem’s Jordan-run Religious Endowments Authority.
The authority put the total number of settlers to have entered the mosque complex since April 1 at a whopping 1731.
