Amman, Sept. 17 (Petra) – The Senate’s Palestine Committee met on
Thursday with Apostolic Nuncio to Jordan Archbishop Giovanni Pietro
Dal Toso to examine regional developments, the protection of
Jerusalem’s holy sites, and preserving the city’s historical and
legal status quo.

Committee Chair Mazen Darwazah thanked the Holy See for backing a
two-state solution and reaffirmed Jordan’s role, led by His Majesty
King Abdullah II, in protecting Jerusalem’s sacred sites under
Hashemite Custodianship.

Darwazah warned against actions undermining the status quo at Aqsa
Mosque and restricting freedom of worship. He cited a July 23
incident where 4,288 Israeli settlers raided the compound, alongside
ongoing arrests, expulsions, and restrictions targeting Jerusalem
Waqf staff and guards.

These pressures also affect Jerusalem’s indigenous Christian
community, Darwazah added, noting a sharp population decline due to
conflict, displacement, occupation, and severe socio-economic strain.

He pointed to 176 documented harassment incidents against Christians
in 2025 alone, as well as an attempt during Holy Week to block
Cardinal Pierbattista Pizzaballa, the Latin Patriarch of Jerusalem,
from entering the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.

The committee also noted the systemic damage to Palestinian higher
education. Military raids continue to target West Bank universities,
with UNESCO estimating that 95 percent of Gaza’s higher education
infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, threatening the future
of Palestinian youth.

Darwazah stated the Vatican’s “crucial role” in defending religious
freedom and human rights, stressing that lasting peace requires
ending the occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian
state based on June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its
capital.

Meanwhile, the committee stressed the necessity of sustained
collaboration with the Vatican to protect Jerusalem’s heritage and
support the Palestinian people.

The archbishop, for his part, voiced the Holy See’s commitment to a
two-state solution and hailed the King’s leadership in promoting
peace, dialogue, and humanitarian relief for Gaza and the occupied
West Bank. He also praised the Hashemite Custodianship for preserving
Jerusalem’s multi-religious identity.

//Petra// HA