Jordan sends memorandum to Israel over Jerusalem violence

AMMAN

Jordan on Sunday sent an official memorandum to Israel denouncing attempts to evict residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood in East Jerusalem from their homes, according to the country's official news agency.

The memorandum was sent to the Israeli Foreign Ministry, said a report in PETRA citing Daifallah al-Fayez, the spokesman of Jordanian Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates.

"Stemming from the Hashemite Custodianship over Jerusalem's Muslim and Christian holy sites, Jordan will devote all its capabilities to protecting the city's holy shrines, its Arab, Muslim and Christian identity, the historical and legal status quo, and responding to the Israeli attacks," said Fayez.

The spokesman said the government "sent an official memorandum to the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs expressing the Jordanian government's rejection of the Israeli authorities' attempts to displace the residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood from their homes."

Fayez said the memorandum "affirms that Jerusalemites are a protected population under international law and international humanitarian law, and therefore the Israeli authorities have no right to forcibly displace them from their homes, which is a violation of international humanitarian law."

"The memo also made it clear that the decisions of the Israeli courts in occupied East Jerusalem are null and void according to international humanitarian law," it added.

Palestinians in Jerusalem in recent days have protested in solidarity with residents of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood amid clashes with Israeli police.

The protests came as the Israeli Central Court in East Jerusalem approved a decision to evict seven Palestinian families from their homes in favor of Israeli settlers at the beginning of this year.

Israeli police attempted to disperse worshippers inside the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound Friday evening, using stun grenades and gas bombs. Women were also targeted by Israeli forces, according to witnesses.

Another 10 people were injured on Sunday after Israeli police intervention with plastic bullets and sound bombs after dawn prayers at the mosque.

According to an Anadolu Agency photojournalist at the scene, Israeli police, who were waiting outside the two gates, fired plastic bullets and sound bombs at the congregation leaving the compound. Palestinian youth responded by throwing stones and bottles at the police.

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the world's third-holiest site for Muslims. Jews call the area the "Temple Mount," claiming it was the site of two Jewish temples in ancient times.

Israel occupied East Jerusalem, where Al-Aqsa is located, during the 1967 Arab-Israeli war. It annexed the entire city in 1980, in a move never recognized by the international community.

*Merve Aydogan contributed to this story from Ankara