Jordan King to Visit Ramallah to Ease Tension Ahead of Ramadan

Israeli forces prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands near Ramallah (Wafa)
Israeli forces prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands near Ramallah (Wafa)
TT

Jordan King to Visit Ramallah to Ease Tension Ahead of Ramadan

Israeli forces prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands near Ramallah (Wafa)
Israeli forces prevent Palestinians from reaching their lands near Ramallah (Wafa)

Jordan's King Abdullah II will visit Ramallah soon to meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in an attempt to contain a possible escalation during Ramadan month, according to the official Kan Channel.

Kan said that the monarch plans to come to Ramallah on the eve of Ramadan and meet Abbas, who will have returned from a visit to Germany.

The last time the Jordanian king visited Ramallah was five years ago.

The report stated that Amman fears new escalations and tensions during Ramadan, especially in Jerusalem.

The issue was a top priority on King Abdullah's agenda when he hosted Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid last week in Amman.

"We agreed that we must work together to calm tensions and promote understanding, particularly in the lead-up to the month of Ramadan and Passover," Lapid said in a statement after the meeting.

A PA official asserted that the Authority has no interest in escalation, but Israel is pushing for it. He noted that Tel Aviv said it was trying to ensure calm, but nothing has been implemented on the ground.

The official stated that if Israel wanted to prevent any escalation, it must prevent Jews from entering the Temple Mount throughout Ramadan month, even though it will coincide with the Jewish Passover.

Israel tends to allow settlers to storm al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan month.

On Tuesday, Israeli Minister of Internal Security Omar Bar-Lev said that Jews would be allowed to enter the Temple Mount during Ramadan.

Bar-Lev said Jews will be free to enter the Temple Mount as always, and Palestinian political and religious officials issued calls to mobilize and protect al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan.

Palestinian worshipers usually stay in the al-Aqsa Mosque during Ramadan month and refuse to allow extremist Jews, which could lead to severe escalations.

Hamas said that the Palestinian people could defend Jerusalem and al-Aqsa Mosque.

The movement's politburo member, Harun Nassereddine, stressed that the occupation would not be able to pass its plans against Jerusalem and the Mosque as long as the resistance is ready to confront it.

Earlier, Hamas and the Islamic Jihad issued a joint statement warning there would be dire consequences if extremist Jewish groups dared to desecrate the Aqsa Mosque to celebrate the Purim festival.

Violent clashes erupted near Ramallah between the Israeli army and Palestinian demonstrators, in which 54 civilians were injured after security forces stormed the Qalandia refugee camp north of Jerusalem.

The West Bank witnessed a series of operations in the past few weeks, which reinforced previous Israeli assessments about the possibility of a significant escalation during the coming three months.

In a meeting, senior security officials decided to reinforce the police and security forces in all Palestinian areas.

Last week, the head of the Shin Bet Ronen Bar discussed in Washington with the FBI Director Christopher Wray and senior officials the situation in the Palestinian territories.

Bar warned of a possible security escalation during Ramadan month.

Channel 12 warned that the coinciding Jewish and Palestinian religious and national events could lead to tensions and escalations.

The increased Israeli assessments have prompted the army to increase its arrest campaigns in the West Bank in recent weeks, aiming to limit reasons for possible intensifications.



Erdogan: Israel's Attacks on Syria, Lebanon Threaten Türkiye Too

FILED - 30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: FILE PHOTO - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the presidential palace. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
FILED - 30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: FILE PHOTO - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the presidential palace. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
TT

Erdogan: Israel's Attacks on Syria, Lebanon Threaten Türkiye Too

FILED - 30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: FILE PHOTO - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the presidential palace. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa
FILED - 30 October 2025, Türkiye, Ankara: FILE PHOTO - Recep Tayyip Erdogan, President of Türkiye, speaks at the presidential palace. Photo: Michael Kappeler/dpa

Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said on Wednesday that Israel's attacks on Syria and Lebanon had reached a point where they also threaten Türkiye, adding Israel's "aggression" ⁠posed a threat ⁠to the whole world and must be stopped.

Speaking to lawmakers in parliament, ⁠Erdogan also said there were initiatives, led by Israel, to destabilize the Mediterranean region and warned that "nobody should chase adventures" or join Israel's "boat of mischief.”

Ankara's response ⁠to ⁠moves violating the rights of Turks and Turkish Cypriots would be met with a clear and strong response, he warned.


Russia Says it is Discussing 'Reformatting' of Military Facilities in Syria

People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
TT

Russia Says it is Discussing 'Reformatting' of Military Facilities in Syria

People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV
People rest outside the Kremlin on a warm summer day in downtown Moscow, Russia, 05 June 2026. EPA/MAXIM SHIPENKOV

Russia's foreign ministry said on Wednesday that cooperation with Syria was developing very actively and that Moscow was discussing with Damascus a "possible reformatting" of its military facilities in Syria.

The December 2024 ousting of Syrian president Bashar al-Assad, a close Russian ally, raised questions about the future of Russia's Hmeimim airbase in Latakia and its naval facility at Tartous. But Moscow has since built relations with Ahmed al-Sharaa, who is now Syria's president.

"Russian-Syrian ⁠cooperation is developing ⁠very actively," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Maria Zakharova said when asked about reported plans for the creation of a logistics hub in Tartous to distribute goods imported from Russia across Syria.

"Within the framework of contacts with Syrian partners, the issue of ⁠Russia's military presence in Syria is also being discussed, including in the context of a possible reformatting of the functionality of Russian military facilities,” Reuters quoted her as saying.

The bases in Syria are an integral part of Russia's global military presence: The Tartous naval base is Russia's only Mediterranean repair and resupply hub, while Hmeimim is a major staging post for military and mercenary activity in Africa.

Russia intervened militarily in Syria in ⁠2015 ⁠to back Assad in a civil war. Reuters reported in 2024 that Russia was pulling back forces from front lines in northern Syria and from posts in mountains dominated by Assad's Alawite community, but was not leaving its Mediterranean bases in Hmeimim and Tartous.


Amnesty Accuses Israel of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of West Bank Bedouins

An aerial view shows the Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP)
An aerial view shows the Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP)
TT

Amnesty Accuses Israel of ‘Ethnic Cleansing’ of West Bank Bedouins

An aerial view shows the Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP)
An aerial view shows the Bedouin hamlet of Khan al-Ahmar in the West Bank, Jan. 24, 2023. (AP)

Amnesty International accused Israel on Wednesday of conducting an "ethnic cleansing" campaign against Bedouin and herding communities in the occupied West Bank, saying the measures were designed to accelerate the annexation of the Palestinian territory.

A new report by the rights group found that these rural Palestinian communities are bearing the brunt of Israeli settler violence and forced displacement.

"Israeli authorities are accelerating annexation through a state-driven campaign of ethnic cleansing targeting Palestinian Bedouin and herding communities" of the West Bank, said the report released on Wednesday.

Amnesty said its research showed that 27 Bedouin and herding communities comprising hundreds of Palestinians were forcibly displaced between 2023 and 2025 or were at risk of displacement in the West Bank's Area C, which encompasses 60 percent of the territory and is under Israeli control under the 1990s Oslo agreements.

In the report titled "Erasing anything Palestinian: Israel's ethnic cleansing of West Bank Bedouin and herding communities", Amnesty accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government, one of Israel's most right-wing to date, of catering to the settler movement's religious nationalist agenda.

"It has accelerated settlement expansion and land grabs, increased financial and logistical support to settlements, and it has armed settlers, thereby enabling a brutal state-sanctioned campaign of settler violence," the report said.

In an apparent effort to counter arguments by Israeli officials that settler violence is caused by bad actors in that community, Amnesty pointed to "explicit calls by Israeli officials for settlement expansion" and "measures aimed at minimizing Palestinian presence in Area C".

The "ethnic cleansing campaign is state-led, and state-sponsored, not driven by rogue settlers or so-called extremist ministers", the report concluded.

- 'Unlawful deportation' -

Far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who himself lives in a settlement, is a vocal proponent of West Bank's annexation and on Tuesday was banned from France for actively promoting it.

In May 2026, the UN rights office had also decried indications of "ethnic cleansing" in Gaza and the West Bank.

Amnesty pointed to Israel's legal responsibilities as an occupying power in the West Bank, and its violations of international humanitarian law.

"These violations include the war crime of unlawful deportation and transfer and the crime against humanity of deportation or forcible transfer of population," the report said.

Bedouin and herders' communities, often isolated and without security services, are particularly vulnerable to the threat of violence or displacement.

Since 2023, AFP reporters have witnessed the departure of several Bedouin communities of the West Bank under pressure from settler groups, including the community of Ras Ein al-Auja in early 2026.

"What is happening today is the complete collapse of the community as a result of the settlers' continuous and repeated attacks," Farhan Jahaleen, a Bedouin from the village, told AFP in January.

Since Netanyahu's government came to power in late 2022, it has greenlighted the creation of 102 settlements in the West Bank, according to settlement watchdog Peace Now.

Excluding east Jerusalem, more than 500,000 Israelis live in settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, among some three million Palestinians.

All Israeli settlements are considered illegal under international law.

Some settlers have engaged in arson, vandalism, theft of private property in Palestinian communities, as well as physical assaults and sometimes murder, according to rights groups.

The number of such incidents steadily increased after the start of the war in Gaza in 2023, reaching an average of six per day in the West Bank in 2026, according to the UN humanitarian agency OCHA.