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Jordan King, German President Discuss Palestinian File

Jordan’s King Abdullah meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Amman on Sunday (Jordan’s Royal Court)
Jordan’s King Abdullah meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Amman on Sunday (Jordan’s Royal Court)
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Jordan King, German President Discuss Palestinian File

Jordan’s King Abdullah meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Amman on Sunday (Jordan’s Royal Court)
Jordan’s King Abdullah meets with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier in Amman on Sunday (Jordan’s Royal Court)

Jordan's King Abdullah II held talks on Sunday with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier at the Husseiniya Palace in Amman, focusing on the strategic partnership between the two countries, regional and international developments and the Palestinian file.

The two leaders discussed means to develop cooperation between the two countries, especially at the economic, investment, tourism, development, military and security levels.

The King underlined strong and historic ties with Germany and welcomed Steinmeier in his new capacity as president and “as an old and dear friend of Jordan.”

He also mentioned recent meetings with German Defense Minister Ursula von der Leyen, and in Davos with Chancellor Angela Merkel with whom he discussed issues of common interest.

King Abdullah highlighted the development of defense and security ties between the two countries, expressing keenness to advance them further in the wake of the current circumstances.

“There are many issues that we will discuss, the most important of which is the question of Jerusalem and the future of the peace process,” he stated.

“I believe that our position on the Palestinian issue and Jerusalem is known to you,” he told his German counterpart. “We support the two-state solution in which East Jerusalem is the capital of the Palestinians. These are certain subjects that we will discuss.”

Steinmeier, for his part, stressed that relations with Jordan have grown stronger in the past years.

He added that Germany “follows Jordan’s policy in the region with huge respect and admiration”, noting that the Kingdom was under difficult conditions, especially since 2011, with the arrival of tens of thousands of Syrian refugees to the country.

“I know this is a huge burden for Jordan,” Steinmeier stated, noting that his country was “ready and responsible” to support the Kingdom in shouldering this weight.

The president said discussions would also focus on regional issues, namely Palestinian-Israeli relations and the future status of Jerusalem, as well as tensions between Saudi Arabia and Iran, which affect the entire region.

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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.