Jordan has denied Israeli media claims that it agreed to allow the Israeli occupation authority in Jerusalem to close the Bab al-Rahma prayer area of the Aqsa Mosque for six month before turning it into an office used by the Islamic Awqaf Authority.
This came in a statement attributed by Jordan News Agency (Petra) to an unnamed official source.
The official source affirmed that the Israeli press claims about the Bab al-Rahma building were not true.
“Such allegation is unfounded and Jordan has a firm position that Bab al-Raham is an integral part of the Aqsa Mosque and treated like a Mosque” the source added.
The source said that his country rejects any attempt by Israel to change the historical and legal status of the holy sites in Jerusalem.
The source called for allowing the Islamic Awqaf to renovate the Bab al-Rahma site and restore the situation at the site as it was before its closure by the Israeli occupation authority in March 2003.
The source also stressed the need for Israel to respect the Jerusalem Awqaf management’s exclusive jurisdiction over all the affairs of the Aqsa Mosque.
