The Arab League on Thursday called on Israel to end Jewish prayers inside the Temple Mount, warning it was a flagrant affront to Muslim feelings that could trigger wider conflict, Reuters reported.
“Our demands are clear that Al-Aqsa and Haram al Sharif in all its area is a sole place of worship for Muslims,” Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman al Safadi told reporters alongside Arab League chief Ahmed Aboul Gheit after an emergency meeting in Amman on the matter.
Gheit accused Israel of violating centuries-old policy according to which non-Muslims may visit the Al-Aqsa compound, but not pray there.
“These violations are a blatant affront and provocation of Muslim feelings everywhere and they risk a cycle of violence that threatens security and stability in the region and the world,” the Arab League said in a statement quoted by Reuters.
Safadi, who met senior US officials visiting the region on Wednesday, said he received assurances Israel would halt Jewish worshippers entry to Al-Aqsa in the last 10 days of Ramadan.
The Arab League meeting came hours after the clashes on the Temple Mount resumed on Thursday morning, with Arabs reporting that Israeli security forces entered the site and closed the worshipers in one of the mosques.
Footage from the scene showed that the forces used riot dispersal methods after the rioters attacked them with rocks and fireworks and tried to harm the police officers from within the mosque.
Earlier this week, Jordan's Foreign Ministry issued a statement warning that alleged "continued encroachments of Israel that are designed to alter the historic status quo at the Al Aqsa Mosque are causing a dangerous escalation."
That same day, Jordan abruptly closed its entry and exit points, leaving hundreds of Israelis stranded and unable to return home.
Meanwhile, at a parliamentary session, Jordanian Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh encouraged violence towards Israelis, saying, "I congratulate all Palestinians and all Jordanian Islamic Waqf workers who stand as tall as a turret and those who throw stones at pro-Zionists who defile the al-Aqsa Mosque in the security of the Israeli occupation government."
(Israel National News' North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of the Seventh Day of Passover in New York. The time posted automatically on all Israel National News articles, however, is Israeli time.)