Jordan is organizing an emergency gathering of foreign ministers from Arab and Islamic nations to address concerns over what Jordanian officials characterize as an imminent threat of Israeli takeover of al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock, located in Jerusalem’s Old City. The meeting on Wednesday follows what Jordan describes as escalating incursions by Jewish religious groups onto the compound, which Jordanian officials say violates a longstanding status quo agreement that restricts prayer at the site to Muslims only.
On 23 July, over 2,000 Israelis described as members of the religious right, including settlers and led by Israel’s national security minister, entered the compound, also known to Jews as the Temple Mount. Jordanian officials characterized this as the most significant violation in modern history of the arrangement. The site holds religious significance for multiple faith traditions: it houses al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock for Muslims, and is considered the holiest site in Judaism, where two temples are believed to have stood in ancient times. Under the existing agreement, Jewish prayer is permitted at the Western Wall, a structure that survived the destruction of the Second Temple in 70 CE.
Jordan’s foreign minister Ayman Safadi warned that interference with the status quo could “trigger a religious conflict that will reverberate beyond Palestine and Jordan into the whole Muslim world.” The emergency meeting will bring together foreign ministers from Arab League countries as well as representatives from Turkey, Indonesia, Malaysia, and Pakistan. Safadi emphasized that the international community should be aware of what he characterizes as a dangerous situation in Jerusalem.
The Jordanian custodianship of the al-Aqsa compound dates to just over a century ago and was reaffirmed following the 1967 war and in the 1994 Israeli-Jordanian peace treaty. Historical precedent suggests the volatility of the situation: a visit by Israeli leader Ariel Sharon to the compound in 2000 preceded more than four years of violence. Jordan also expressed broader concerns about Israeli actions in the West Bank and potential Palestinian displacement, which Jordanian officials indicated would represent a red line for the kingdom.
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