The Jordanian foreign ministry had condemned “Israel’s continued violation of the historical and legal status quo in the blessed Aqsa Mosque” as well as its “infringements of the rights of Muslims to perform their religious rites.”

The Jordanian foreign ministry warned that Israel “bears responsibility for the escalation in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories” over its “major incursions into Al-Aqsa.”

Tensions rose during the Jewish holiday of Passover when Israeli nationalists called for performing animal sacrifices in Al-Aqsa. Palestinians held i’tikaf prayer vigils during the week to ward off such an Israeli incursion.

Israeli police raided the mosque on Tuesday night, and video of officers beating worshippers with batons spread widely on social media. Jordanians held protests in several cities, and Palestinian factions in Gaza and Lebanon fired rockets at Israel in retaliation for the raid.

The Jordanian endowment had originally limited i’tikaf prayers to the first two Fridays and the last ten days of Ramadan. At dawn on Sunday, ministry official Sattar al-Qudah emphasized that “i’tikaf is a sunnah tradition and an act of worship…and no one has the right to disrupt it or ask for it to be suspended.”

Video showed Israeli visitors ascending the Temple Mount and entering Al-Aqsa on Sunday morning under heavy police protection, to jeers from the Palestinian crowd. No animal sacrifice was reported to have occurred.

Under the prewar status quo, which Israel has agreed to maintain, non-Muslims are allowed to visit Al-Aqsa but only Muslims can perform religious rites there. Israeli politicians, including current national security minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have voiced their support for changing the status quo.

The site is holy to both Jews and Muslims, as it is believed to be where the Temple of Solomon once stood. Judaism traditionally teaches that the temple cannot be rebuilt until the Messiah’s arrival, and many rabbis discourage Jews from entering Al-Aqsa out of respect for the sanctity of the former temple.

However, Israeli nationalists have called for establishing a Jewish presence on the Temple Mount. Some factions have even called for Al-Aqsa to be replaced with a new Jewish temple.

In a statement last week, Jordanian religious affairs ministry called it “far-fetched” to “divide time and space” in Al-Aqsa between Jews and Muslims.

Since the Israeli conquest of the West Bank, the Cave of the Patriarchs in Hebron has been divided between a Jewish section and a Muslim section. The Israeli ministry of defense closed the Muslim section on Sunday and Monday for the Passover holiday, Israeli media reported.

Palestinians in the West Bank have also been barred from entering Jerusalem for the holiday.