Supervisor Elham AbolFateh
Editor in Chief Mohamed Wadie

Jordanian Lawmakers Call for Expelling Israel's Envoy amid Al-Aqsa Tension


Mon 18 Apr 2022 | 07:30 PM
Ahmad El-Assasy

Jordanian MPs asked for the Israeli ambassador to be expelled on Monday, citing tensions over the sensitive Al-Aqsa Mosque compound in occupied East Jerusalem.

According to the Jordanian state news agency, eighty-seven MPs in the 130-seat Parliament filed a memorandum to the Jordanian government seeking the removal of the Israeli envoy.

The move comes after Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that the Israeli charge d'affaires will be summoned to Amman "to express the kingdom's unequivocal message of rejection of the Israeli operations (at Al-Aqsa Mosque)."

Israeli Ambassador Amir Weisbord was summoned, according to Safadi, but "he was not in Amman."

Since Friday, when Israeli police entered the Al-Aqsa Mosque courtyard and attacked worshipers, injured hundreds, tensions have risen across the Palestinian territory.

The situation has been exacerbated by daily settlement incursions into the sensitive spot to commemorate the week-long Jewish Passover holiday.

During a phone meeting on Monday, Jordan's King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas discussed recent developments in the Palestinian territories.

The two leaders discussed the Israeli escalation in Jerusalem, according to the Jordanian Royal Court.

The two leaders discussed "the recent Palestinian developments and the daily settler intrusions into Al-Aqsa Mosque under Israeli police protection," according to the Palestinian news agency WAFA.

According to the same source, the two sides also decided to "maintain joint consultations and coordination in the international arena, and to create connections with the concerned to halt Israeli attacks parties on Al-Aqsa Mosque and worshipers, as well as to end the slaughter and mistreatment of Palestinians."

On Sunday, King Abdullah II urged on Israel to stop its "illegal and provocative" actions in Al-Aqsa Mosque and respect the historical and legal circumstances there.

For Muslims, the Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third holiest place. The region is known as the "Temple Mount" by Jews, who claim it was formerly home to two Jewish temples.

During the 1967 Arab-Israeli conflict, Israel occupied East Jerusalem, including Al-Aqsa. In 1980, it annexed the entire city, a move that was never acknowledged by the international world.

The Jordanian King signed an agreement with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in March 2013, guaranteeing Jordan the authority to "guardianship and defence of Jerusalem and the sacred sites" in Palestine.