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Israel and Jordan in talks to defuse Temple Mount dispute
Israeli and Jordanian officials held talks yesterday to resolve a dispute about Muslim access to the Bab al-Rahma compound on the Temple Mount.
The Bab al-Rahma building has been closed since 2003 after Israeli police said Hamas activists used the site as a meeting point to plan attacks. The site was reopened last month by the Waqf (the Islamic authority that oversees the site) after thousands of Palestinian worshipers forced their way into the area. Since then there have been numerous clashes between Palestinians and the Israeli Police.
A meeting between the Waqf and Jerusalem’s police chief was cancelled yesterday and this prompted urgent negotiations between Israeli and Jordanian official to resolve the dispute.
According to Kan News, yesterday’s talks were aimed at reaching a temporary solution, in which Israel would allow the Waqf to bring construction material to the site for maintenance work and renovations, and in return the structure would remained closed while the work was being carried out.
An Israeli court warned on Monday that it would close the compound unless the Waqf responds, within a week, to a state request to close the previously-sealed off flashpoint. The Waqf declined to appear in court in order to avoid appearing to recognise Israeli sovereignty over the site.
In an effort to avoid further incitement to violence, Israeli authorities barred Sheikh Abdel Azim Salhab, head of the Waqf, from the compound for 40 days and his deputy, Najih Bakira for four months.
Bezalel Smotrich, head of the National Union party, wrote a letter to the Prime Minister, saying that: “Simply holding negotiations with these outlaws is the same as a dangerous submission to violence. It is unacceptable that the sinner would benefit from his actions and that the one-sided move by the Waqf to invade the compound would bear fruit.”
Jordan’s Royal Committee for Jerusalem Affairs, which oversees the Waqf in Jerusalem, said the Israeli court order was an: “Escalation of the attack on Bab al-Rahma,” with the committee head calling it “aggression against Jerusalem and holy sites for electoral purposes”.