Amman, Aug. 27 (Petra) -- Secretary-General of the Royal Commission for Jerusalem Affairs (RCJA) Abdullah Kanaan on Thursday said Israeli measures targeting the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem were escalating by demolishing and razing Palestinian properties and facilities, citing new demolition and confiscation orders.

In remarks to Jordan News Agency (Petra), Kanaan said the escalation coincided with intensified attacks on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), its facilities and staff, as part of continued efforts to impose a new reality on the ground and undermine the Palestinian presence in the city.

Kanaan noted that the committee views evacuation of the UNRWA compound in Qalandia and the expulsion of agency staff from its training center as a part of a systematic policy targeting the Palestinian presence in Jerusalem, referring to demolition and razing operations in Kafr Aqab and areas near the separation wall in this context.

On their goals, he said the measures seek to restrict the natural growth of the Palestinian population and impose demographic and urban changes on the city, constituting violations of international and international humanitarian law and relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

He stressed that attacks on UNRWA were inseparable from efforts to undermine the Palestinian refugee issue and erase international testimony to their rights.

Kanaan said continued demolition, confiscation and eviction operations in Jerusalem constitute an attack on the city's identity and its Arab, Islamic and Christian character, while threatening its historical and legal status.

He urged the international community to assume its legal and moral responsibilities, take a firm stance against the practices, halt Israeli violations, protect the Palestinian people, their property and institutions, and preserve the historical and legal status quo in Jerusalem and its holy sites.

Jordan, under King Abdullah II's leadership, will continue its "historic" role in protecting Jerusalem and its Islamic and Christian holy sites under the Hashemite custodianship, according to the committee.

As for its significance, the committee said the custodianship remains a "key" pillar in protecting Jerusalem and its holy sites, defending the rights of the Palestinian people and supporting their right to establish an independent state on their national territory, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

//Petra// NQ