Israel appealed to Jordan with the request to evacuate Muslim extremists who barricaded themselves on the Temple Mount, however the Hashemite Kingdom which controls the Muslim holy site refused to help and instead issued a warning for Israel to not take matters into their own hands.
During the Passover holiday, the Jordanian Waqf, which is responsible for order on the Temple Mount and is run by the Royal Hashemite Court allowed about 350 Palestinians to barricade themselves on the Temple Mount, with the aim of preventing Jews from ascending the Temple Mount under the pretext that they "intend to make a sacrifice". The reality was that on Passover, hundreds of thousands of Jews head towards the Western Wall to hear the Priestly Blessings, some devout Jews visit the site where the Temple stood and this is what the Jordanians wanted to prevent.
Extremists once again remain in Al Aqsa chanting "Clashes are coming."
— RealPalestina(א"י)🇮🇱 (@LollllllaJR) April 8, 2023
In violation of the Jordan's commitment to prevent overnight stays, the Jordanian waqf not only doesn't prevent that, but also encourages and incites violence.@KingAbdullahII @QueenNoor pic.twitter.com/J8xLN7N2YJ
Close to midnight, the Israeli police began talking to the rioters, but they refused to come down from the mountain, and an hour later serious riots began inside the mountain compound, and videos of Palestinians being beaten by policemen's batons became viral on social media. The videos were reecorded the week before when Palestinian youth barricaded themselves inside the mosque with weapons, stones, fireworks and Molotov Cocktails with the intent of attacking Jewish visitors who have come to the site before the Passover holiday.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs contacted Jordan and asked to "immediately remove from the Al-Aqsa Mosque using the Waqf's guards, the extremists planning to riot tomorrow during Muslim prayers on the Temple Mount and the blessing of the Jewish priests at the Western Wall." In a tweet on the same Twitter account following a publication by the Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it was written that the rioters in the Al-Aqsa Mosque are directed by Hamas and other terrorist organizations in order to create disturbances.
Not almost, Shoshanna. They want these confrontations.
— Jay Engelmayer | Judea & Samaria Are In Israel (@jengelmayer) April 9, 2023
They’re not really a partner in peace, rather they use the peace to remain legitimate as even they know that the @RHCJO ended when the Saudis kicked them out of Hejaz.
It’s the king game they’ve been playing.
As mentioned, Israel demanded that the Jordanians through the Waqf evacuate those rioters, but a Jordanian source announced that "the Jordanian Foreign Ministry refused to accept Israel's messages that it tried to send through intermediaries regarding the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
The source added that "Jordan held a diplomatic discussion with Israel, which for its part tried to distort the facts surrounding the Al-Aqsa Mosque and place the responsibility for the serious escalation as a result of Israel's attacks on holy sites on the director of the Waqf. The [Jordanian] Ministry of Foreign Affairs refused to accept the Israeli request and informed the officials that it rejects Israel's claims and attempts."
It was also stated that "Jordan is ready to have a direct dialogue with Israel if it means that the latter will stop its violations of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and the historical and legal status quo and its attacks on worshipers, and remove the restrictions imposed on the freedom of worship."
Hamas gets people killed, Israelis and Palestinians with it's false claims of threats to Al Aqsa. Every year, the same thing. Every Ramadan is a nightmare here. pic.twitter.com/XeeyHr5K92
— Shoshanna Keats Jaskoll (@skjask) April 8, 2023
The source said that the Jordanian ministry informed the mediators that “the Waqf department has the sole authority to manage all holy matters, which is a pure place of worship for Muslims, and is able to fully fulfill its role if Israel stops committing crimes that fuel violence and push for escalation.” As mentioned, the Jordanian Waqf was the authority that allowed Palestinian nationalists to barricade themselves in the first place within the Al-Aqsa mosque and desecrate the holy site.
