Amman - United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "understanding of Jordan's concerns" over excavations being conducted by Israel at the al-Aqsa Mosque's al-Magharebah Gate in East Jerusalem, the Jordanian Foreign Ministry reported Tuesday. In response to a message from Jordanian Foreign Minister Salah Bashir, "the Secretary General said in his letter that he was well- aware of the circumstances surrounding the excavations and the planned building near al-Magharebah Gate and that he understands Jordan's concerns in this respect," the Foreign Ministry statement said.
Israel says the excavations at the site had the aim of building a bridge and a walkway, a move that was rejected by both Jordan and the Palestinians as another move to Judaize East Jerusalem which Israel captured from Jordan in the 1967 Six Day War.
Ban said he planned to write to the Israeli prime minister "to underscore the importance of Jerusalem as a sensitive issue for Arabs and Muslims and one of the final status questions to be discussed by Palestinians and Israelis."
"The UN secretary general urged Israel to refrain from any unilateral acts that could change the stamp of the holy city and to comply with the relevant UN Secretary Council resolutions," which consider East Jerusalem an occupied city, the statement said.
"He also urged Israel to work in a transparent manner with (UN cultural organization) UNESCO and the World Heritage Committee to arrive at a solution acceptable to both Israel and Jordan while taking into account the Palestinian viewpoint," it added.
Under the peace treaty that Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994, the Jewish state acknowledged the Hashemite Kingdom's right to look after both the Islamic and the Christian holy places in Jerusalem.
