Jordanian King: Jerusalem will remain under Jordan’s guardianship

Jordan’s King Abdullah II has stressed that Jerusalem will remain under Hashemite guardianship in terms of Jordan’s religious and historical responsibility towards the Holy City.

In his speech during the opening of the third session of the Jordanian parliament on Sunday, the King said that “The Palestinian cause has been on top of the Jordanian diplomatic agenda because it is a supreme national interest.”

“Jerusalem will remain a holy cause that was our looked after by our ancestors, and will continue to be taken care of by our sons and our daughters who continue to play this supervisor role and who will defend it against any assault and any attempt to change the reality,” he added.

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The Jordanian Ministry of Awqaf and Islamic Holy Sites Affairs is affiliated to Jerusalem’s Waqf charity, which is the official supervisor of Al-Aqsa Mosque and Jerusalem endowments. Under international law, Jordan is considered the latest local authority to supervise those holy sites prior to Jerusalem’s occupation by Israel in 1967. Additionally, Jordan was granted special rights to supervise the religious affairs of the city under the Jordanian-Israeli peace agreement of 1994, known as the Wadi Araba Treaty.

In March 2013, Jordan’s King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed an agreement granting Jordan guardianship rights over Jerusalem, as well as the right “to defend Jerusalem and the holy places” in Palestine.