Amman - King Abdullah II of Jordan on Monday rejected Israel's excavations at al-Magharebah Gate in East Jerusalem as an "illegal" step that could affect the Islamic nature of the holy city.

Abdullah made the remarks during a meeting with the visiting UNESCO Director General Koichiro Matsuura, a royal court statement said.

"The monarch asserted the illegality of the Israeli moves at al-Magharebah Gate and urged Israel to abide by the relevant international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention and the Hague Convention of 1954," according to the statement.

The Israeli government has said that its excavations at al-Magharebah Gate near the al-Aqsa Mosque is for the purpose of building a bridge and a walkway.

Israel captured East Jerusalem from Jordan in the 1967 Six-Day War.

However, under the provisions of the peace treaty which the two countries concluded in 1994, the Jewish state acknowledged Jordan's right to look after all Islamic and Christian shrines in the holy city. (dpa)