Jordan condemns Ben-Gvir, settler incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque

• Ambassador Fouad Al-Majali emphasized that 'Israel' holds no sovereignty over occupied East Jerusalem or its holy sites.
• The Ministry reiterated that the entire 144-dunum Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims, governed solely by the Jordanian-run Jerusalem Waqf Department.
• Jordan urged the international community to take a decisive stance compelling 'Israel', as the occupying power, to cease its illegal practices and stop restricting Palestinian worshippers.

The Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates strongly condemned the storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Monday by far-right ‘Israeli’ Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir alongside groups of extremist settlers under the protection of ‘Israeli’ police, calling it a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, and the established historical status quo.

The Ministry also explicitly condemned Sunday’s large-scale incursions, during which approximately 1,500 settlers and rabbis performed provocative Talmudic rituals, brought "plant offerings," and engaged in collective prayers and prostrations near the Cotton Merchants' Gate (Bab al-Qattanin).

The escalation on the ground was accompanied by severe access restrictions in the surrounding Old City, where Haaretz reported that 'Israeli' police ordered dozens of Palestinian shop owners to close their businesses throughout the Sukkot holiday to enable settlers access to the area leading to the compound.

Official spokesperson Ambassador Fouad Al-Majali reaffirmed Jordan’s absolute rejection of these repeated violations by ‘Israeli’ ministers and settlers, warning against attempts to impose a temporal or spatial division on the holy site. Al-Majali emphasized that "Israel has no sovereignty over the occupied city of Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites." 

He called on the international community to take a decisive stance obligating ‘Israel’, as the occupying power, to cease its illegal practices and end restrictions on Palestinian worshippers. 

Al-Majali reiterated that the entire 144-dunum Al-Aqsa Mosque compound is an exclusive place of worship for Muslims, under the sole administrative and management authority of the Jerusalem Waqf and Al-Aqsa Mosque Affairs Department, affiliated with the Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf.

These condemnations come as ‘Israeli’ forces continue heavy security measures around the Old City, where total settler incursions reached 40,661 between January and August 2026, alongside nearly 800 banning orders issued against Palestinian worshippers.