(MENAFN- Jordan Times) The government on Friday condemned remarks by Israel's attorney general claiming that Al Haram Al Sharif was part of Israel.
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Communications and Government Spokesperson Samih Maaytah said the government rejected any Israeli attempts to assert control over Islamic holy sites in Jerusalem and undermine Jordan's authority over them, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.
Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein recently said that Al Haram Al Sharif, which the Israelis call the Temple Mount, was part of Israeli territory and that Israeli law was applicable there, including antiquities laws and laws regarding building and planning, but must be applied with sensitivity, according to Israeli media.
The statement was made in an advisory letter to Israeli authorities in Jerusalem several weeks ago, but came to light last week when a religious Jewish organisation filed a petition in an Israeli court saying that rehabilitation work by Waqf authorities to strengthen the Dome of the Rock was threatening parts of the complex that are sacred to Jews.
The group claims that the Israeli antiquities authority is not supervising the work, but the spokesperson for Israeli occupation forces in the city said the authority already had access to the work site, the Jerusalem Post reported.
Maaytah warned that provocative statements like Weinstein's might ignite a comprehensive religious conflict in the region, particularly while Israel is trying to judaise the holy city and change its history and religious and human heritage.
The government considers these statements "very dangerous" as they threaten to transform the issue from a conflict over occupied lands to a religious one, Maaytah said.
He stressed that East Jerusalem, including Al Haram Al Sharif, is part of the lands occupied in 1967 according to international law.
The government considers the remarks as an affront to Jordan's authority in protecting holy sites in Jerusalem as listed in the 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty, under which the Kingdom is the official custodian of holy sites in Jerusalem.
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