Amman, March 29 (Petra) --Ministry of Foreign and Expatriate Affairs "strongly" condemned the Israeli occupation's prevention of the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem from reaching the Church of the Holy Sepulchre and holding Palm Sunday Mass.

The ministry said the Israeli step is a flagrant violation of international law, international humanitarian law, Jerusalem's historical and legal status quo, and the right of unimpeded access to places of worship.

In a sattement, the ministry spokesperson Fuaad Majali said Jordan "firmly condemns and categorically" rejects Israel's unlawful restrictive measures against Christians and their free access to the Church of the Holy Sepulchre to perform their religious rites.

Stressing the need to respect Jerusalem 's historical and legal status quo and its holy sites, he affirmed Israel, as the occupying power, has no sovereignty over Jerusalem and must halt all measures that obstruct worshippers' access to their places of worship.

Majali also renewed Jordan's condemnation of Israel's continued closure of Al-Aqsa Mosque to worshippers and its restrictions on freedom of worship, calling it a grave violation of international law, the historical and legal status quo, and Israel's obligations as an occupying power. He warned of the dangers of continued such measures.

He urged the international community to uphold its legal and moral responsibilities and compel Israel to stop its violations against Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, respect the city's historical and legal status.

In this conetxt, he called for fulfilling the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state on their national soil on the basis of the two-state solution.

//Petra// AO