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Herzog Announces Return of Ties with Jordan to the Right Path

A general view shows a stretch of the King Abdullah Canal near the Jordanian border town of Shuna Shamalia (North Shuna), some four kilometers from the Wadi al-Arab Dam on March 12, 2018. AFP photo
A general view shows a stretch of the King Abdullah Canal near the Jordanian border town of Shuna Shamalia (North Shuna), some four kilometers from the Wadi al-Arab Dam on March 12, 2018. AFP photo
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Herzog Announces Return of Ties with Jordan to the Right Path

A general view shows a stretch of the King Abdullah Canal near the Jordanian border town of Shuna Shamalia (North Shuna), some four kilometers from the Wadi al-Arab Dam on March 12, 2018. AFP photo
A general view shows a stretch of the King Abdullah Canal near the Jordanian border town of Shuna Shamalia (North Shuna), some four kilometers from the Wadi al-Arab Dam on March 12, 2018. AFP photo

Israel’s President Isaac Herzog has announced the return of diplomatic ties with Jordan to the right path.

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Saturday received a telephone call from Herzog. The former congratulated him on being sworn in as president last week.

A reliable source characterized the call as “friendly and warm.”

The Jordanian monarch “expressed satisfaction over the return of the diplomatic relations to their proper trajectory,” the Israeli president’s spokesman said.

Herzog’s office said the two agreed to remain in contact “to work together to advance cooperation between the states, for the benefit of their nations and the entire region.”

The Israeli president was quoted as saying that he wanted to strengthen economic and tourism ties between the two countries.

A statement carried by Jordan’s official Petra news agency said King Abdullah called for increased efforts to reach a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Last week, Israel struck a deal to sell Jordan an additional 50 million cubic meters of water this year and allow Jordanian imports to the West Bank to go up from $160 million in 2020 to about $700 million.

The deals were concluded after Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and King Abdullah met in Amman, followed by a public meeting on Thursday between Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and his Jordanian counterpart Ayman Safadi.

Gilad Sharon, the son of late Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, led a campaign against the water deal.

Neglecting the fact that Jordan will pay 40 cents for each cubic meter of water (which is four folds the usual cost), Sharon considered that this deal gives Israel’s water for free.

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Australia Provided Support for US Airstrikes on Houthis

Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
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Australia Provided Support for US Airstrikes on Houthis

Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)
Houthi footage shows the moment of attacking the sunken Greek ship “M/V Tutor” in the Red Sea (Reuters)

Australian officials said on Friday that their country provided support for US strikes conducted on Thursday targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen, according to Reuters.
The US said it carried out strikes on Wednesday against five underground weapons storage facilities in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen, in a strike that used long range B-2 stealth bombers against the Iran-aligned group for the first time.
“Australia provided support for US strikes conducted on 17 October 2024 targeting Houthi facilities in Yemen, through access and overflight for US aircraft in northern Australia,” an Australian defense official said in a statement.
“This support is consistent with our long-standing alliance commitment and close cooperation, demonstrating the interoperability of our militaries,” it added.
The B-2 bomber aircraft involved in the strikes on Yemen did not operate from Australia, however the Australian Broadcasting Corporation reported air-to-air refueling had been conducted.
Reuters reported in July that Royal Australian Air Force bases in Tindal and Darwin in northern Australia were being upgraded to cater for US bomber and refueling aircraft with US defense funding, as Australia has re-emerged as a strategically vital Indo-Pacific location for the US amid rising tensions with China.
The US has large jet fuel stores at Tindal and Darwin, according to Reuters.

Precision Strikes
On Thursday, US defense secretary Lloyd Austin said the US military, including air force B-2 bombers, conducted precision strikes against five hardened underground weapons storage locations in Houthi-controlled areas of Yemen.
He said US forces targeted several of the Houthis’ underground facilities housing various weapons components of types that the Houthis have used to target civilian and military vessels throughout the region.
“This was a unique demonstration of the United States’ ability to target facilities that our adversaries seek to keep out of reach, no matter how deeply buried underground, hardened, or fortified,” Austin said in a statement.
The Houthis later admitted that airstrikes had hit Sana’a, and the stronghold of Saada. In a statement by its politburo, the group pledged that the attacks “will not go unanswered.”
It said those airstrikes will not deter them from continuing their attacks in support of the Palestinians in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
The Houthis said they received more than 700 airstrikes after the US and Western strikes on the militia group began on January 12.
Late last year, the US announced the formation of an international escort coalition code-named Operation Guardians of Prosperity in response to the Houthi attacks.
Since November 2023, the Houthis have conducted about 193 attacks in the Red Sea, Gulf of Aden, and Indian Ocean, aiming to disrupt Israeli-linked and other vessels, including those from the US and UK.
The strikes, they claim, are in solidarity with Palestinians in the war between Israel and Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Hezbollah in Lebanon.