Overview
- News reports based chiefly on Middle East Eye say U.S. and Israeli officials discussed replacing the Jordan‑backed Islamic Waqf with an Israeli‑created body to run the Al‑Aqsa/Temple Mount compound.
- According to the reports the plan would rebrand the site as a 'multi‑faith' centre, allow organised large‑group Jewish prayer, and give Israel a formal role in appointing mosque officials and approving sermon content.
- Sources named Jared Kushner and U.S. Ambassador Mike Huckabee as supporters of the idea, and said Gulf and Arab governments were briefed while Saudi Arabia opposed it.
- A U.S. official issued a brief denial calling the claims "totally false" and Jordan publicly reaffirmed its Hashemite custodianship and legal rights over the holy sites.
- Reporting depends heavily on anonymous sources and remains unverified, and changing the custodianship would challenge arrangements rooted in the 1924 Waqf practice and Article 9 of the 1994 Israel‑Jordan peace treaty with likely effects on pilgrims and regional stability.