Jordan recalls envoy to Israel over al-Asqa Mosque clashes

On Wednesday, Jordanian Prime Minister Abdullah Nsur asked Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh to recall the Jordanian ambassador, Walid Obeidat, from Tel Aviv in protest at what he described as Israeli violations in al-Quds and the holy sites there. The Jordanian prime minister also instructed the country’s delegation at the UN to file a formal complaint with the UN Security Council against Israel. The al-Aqsa Mosque compound, located in the Israeli-occupied Old City of al-Quds, is a flashpoint holy Islamic site. The location of the compound, known to Jews as the Temple Mount, is the holiest site in Judaism. The mosque is Islam’s third holiest mosque after Masjid al-Haram in Mecca and Masjid al-Nabawi in Medina, Saudi Arabia. Jordan is the custodian of the al-Alqsa Mosque compound. Earlier on Wednesday, dozens of Palestinians suffered tear gas inhalation and at least 20 were injured when Israeli forces fired rubber bullets and hurled tear gas canisters during clashes with Palestinian worshippers at the al-Aqsa Mosque compound. Several Palestinians, among them a minor, were also detained. Israel closed the al-Aqsa Mosque to Muslim worshippers on October 30, after a 32-year-old Palestinian, Moataz Hejazi, was accused of making an attempt on the life of far-right Israeli rabbi, Yehuda Glick, on October 29. Hejazi was killed during an Israeli raid on his home in the Abu Tor neighborhood. Tel Aviv then imposed restrictions on male worshippers, allowing only those over 50 into the holy site. Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian national unity government, warned that the Israeli move amounted to “declaration of war.”   Press T