Guards prevent Passover sacrifice ritual at Al Aqsa Mosque Compound

AMMAN — The Ministry of Foreign Affairs has “strongly” condemned the storming of Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif by extremist settlers, including an attempt by one of them to bring a sacrificial offering into one of the mosque’s courtyards, an act the ministry described as a "dangerous precedent."

In a statement on Monday, the ministry denounced the incident as a “grave escalation blatant violation of international law and the existing historical and legal status quo of occupied Jerusalem and its holy sites,” carried out under the protection of the Israeli occupation authorities. 

Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufian Qudah reiterated Jordan’s unequivocal rejection of the "provocative practices" by extremist settlers, facilitated by Israeli occupation forces, warning of the serious consequences of continued violations at the site.

The spokesperson also underlined that Israel, the occupying power, is required to put an end to all violations of the historical and legal status quo of Jerusalem and attempts to impose temporal and spatial divisions at the site.

He also also reemphasised that the 144-dunum Al Aqsa Mosque is solely an Islamic holy site and that the Jordan-run Jerusalem Awqaf and Aqsa Affairs Department is the sole authority tasked with supervising all its affairs.

Guards at Al Aqsa Mosque on Monday thwarted an attempt by a group of ultranationalist Jewish settlers to sacrifice a lamb at the Al Haram Al Sharif Compound in occupied Jerusalem, during the Jewish Passover holiday, according to the Jordan News Agency, Petra.

Eyewitnesses told Petra's correspondent in Ramallah that the group, carrying a lamb, attempted to enter the compound but were intercepted by mosque guards before the act could be carried out.

In a statement on Monday, the Jerusalem Governorate strongly condemned the incident as a “dangerous escalation,” warning of the consequences of “such provocations which violate the sanctity of the holy site and offend Muslim worshippers.”

"What happened is a deliberate criminal attempt to impose a new status quo at Al Aqsa Mosque," it said, holding the occupation authority fully accountable for "these dangerous acts which were carried out under the protection of the occupation authorities. 

The incident came on the same day that 594 Jewish settlers entered the compound under heavy security, as Muslim worshippers were denied entry to Al Haram Al Sharif, the third holiest site in Islam, Petra reported.