Jordanian King Abdullah II on Thursday cautioned the Tel Aviv regime against "any attempt to change the status quo" of the site. The mosque is the third holiest site in Islam after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina. The compound is also highly respected by the Jews and Christians.
Israel has been applying sweeping restrictions on entry into the compound since August 26.
The measures, which have been interpreted as Tel Aviv’s attempts to divide the site between Muslims and Jews, together with Israeli settlers’ frequent storming of the mosque have prompted Palestinian protests. According to the Palestinian Health Ministry, at least 54 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds others injured since the Israeli regime began a harsh crackdown in early October on the protests.
Israelis forces fire a stun grenade during clashes with Palestinian youths near the city of Ramallah in the Tel Aviv-occupied West Bank, following a protest after Israeli security forces entered the al-Aqsa Mosque compound in East al-Quds (Jerusalem) on September 15, 2015 (AFP photo).
The Jordanian monarch made the remarks after a meeting with UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, who has pleaded with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to contain the violence.
The comments by the Jordanian king echoed a resolution approved by the UN cultural body UNESCO on Wednesday, which likewise blasted Tel Aviv’s “attempts to break the status quo since 1967,” its restrictive measures on the compound, and the Israeli “aggression” against Palestinian worshipers.
Press TV