In a wide-ranging interview with Double Down News, Peter Oborne, associate editor of Middle East Eye and author of Complicit: Britain’s Role in the Destruction of Gaza, detailed alarming developments around Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and the escalating settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
Oborne highlighted a Middle East Eye exclusive reporting that the US and Israel are actively working to strip Jordan’s Hashemite dynasty of its historic custodianship over the Al-Aqsa Mosque complex, Islam’s third-holiest site.
Under the reported plan—backed by figures including Jared Kushner and US Ambassador Mike Huckabee—the site could be transformed into a multi-faith center with Israel gaining significant influence over the appointment of imams and senior officials.
”This is an act of enormous and illegal aggression,” Oborne stated, drawing parallels to the division of the Ibrahimi Mosque in Hebron following the 1994 massacre, where control was split in a way that favored Jewish access.
He described the move as reckless, noting strong support within elements of the Trump administration and Israel’s government from figures like National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who has repeatedly entered the compound provocatively.
For Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Oborne said the situation represents an ”existential crisis” for both the state and the Hashemite dynasty. Jordanian officials have signaled in the past that mass expulsion of Palestinians into their territory would prompt war, despite military inferiority.
A Jordanian white paper, authorized by the king, frames custodianship as an obligation that could justify broader Muslim defense of the site, potentially invoking jihad if attacked.
”We are dealing with reckless and stupid people,” Oborne warned of the potential consequences, which could draw in Muslims worldwide and destabilize the region further.
Oborne, who recently visited the West Bank and Jordan, painted a grim picture of conditions on the ground. He described an ”explosion of settler violence,” with fascist groups—backed by the state—burning, looting, and killing in Palestinian villages while seizing land and livestock on a massive scale.
Bedouin communities face ethnic cleansing, their traditional way of life destroyed. Settlers have effectively taken control, with the Israeli army often complying or merging operations with them following coalition deals that empowered religious Zionists.
He pointed to the World Zionist Organization’s role in the settlement division, noting affiliations of British Jewish groups like the Union of Jewish Students and the Jewish Labour Movement, framing this as part of broader Western complicity. ”We are complicit in the horror which is going on,” Oborne said.
During Ramadan, authorities closed Al-Aqsa for extended periods, unprecedented since the Crusades, leading to worshippers praying outside the walls and facing arrests. Similar restrictions affected Christian sites like the Church of the Holy Sepulchre.
Oborne, a former chief political commentator for The Daily Telegraph who has become a vocal critic of mainstream ”client journalism,” lamented the lack of coverage of these stories in major British media. His book on Britain’s role in Gaza’s destruction has received no mainstream reviews, he noted.
The veteran journalist expressed faint hope for policy shifts under new UK Labour leadership but emphasized the moral failure of continuing trade with settlements and arms supplies amid the violence. ”The performance of the West… is quite extraordinary,” he concluded.
The interview underscores growing warnings from independent outlets about how challenges to the delicate status quo at Al-Aqsa could ignite wider conflict, even as mainstream attention remains limited.
