AMMAN - Jordan on Wednesday recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest against what it described as Israeli "violations" in Jerusalem and its holy sites, the Jordanian state news agency reported.

The decision was taken "in protest at the increasing and unprecedented Israeli escalation in the Noble Sanctuary, and the repeated Israeli violations of Jerusalem", the news agency said.

Jordan and Israel signed peace agreement in 1994.

The Noble Sanctuary is the Islamic term used to describe the compound housing Al Aqsa Mosque and the Dome of the Rock - the third holiest site in Islam. The site is known to Jews as the Temple Mount and is the holiest site in Judaism.