Jordan King Urges Israel to Cancel al-Aqsa Measures

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Monday urged Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to remove new security measures at an ultra-sensitive Jerusalem holy site.

Speaking to Netanyahu by phone, the king stressed "the need to find an immediate solution and remove the reasons for the ongoing crisis at the Haram al-Sharif compound," a royal palace statement said.

Israel installed metal detectors at entrances to the site following a July 14 attack nearby that killed two policemen. 

That sparked days of deadly clashes.

Palestinians viewed the move as an attempt to assert further control over the site, which includes al-Aqsa mosque and the Dome of the Rock.

Jordan is the official custodian of Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.

Abdullah urged Netanyahu to cancel "new measures taken by Israel since the start of the latest crisis."

He stressed "the importance of an agreement on any measures to prevent a repeat of this escalation in the future," the statement read.

Thousands of Jordanians have demonstrated against Israel in Amman and other cities, calling for "resistance" to "Zionist attacks" and demanding the cancellation of a 1994 peace treaty.