Jordan's King: Regional Security Cannot Be Achieved without a Palestinian State

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan ahead of a meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, on March 28, 2022. (AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan ahead of a meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, on March 28, 2022. (AFP)
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Jordan's King: Regional Security Cannot Be Achieved without a Palestinian State

Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan ahead of a meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, on March 28, 2022. (AFP)
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas welcomes King Abdullah II of Jordan ahead of a meeting in Ramallah in the West Bank, on March 28, 2022. (AFP)

Jordan's King Abdullah II assured Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas that Amman will always support Palestine, despite all challenges.

Meeting Abbas in Ramallah, King Abdullah asserted that security and stability could not be achieved in the region without just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state according to the June 4, 1967 lines with East Jerusalem as its capital.

King Abdullah's visit to Ramallah is his first in five years amid rising tensions. He met Abbas after the latter met with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who led a ministerial meeting in Israel that included his Egyptian, Emirati, Bahraini, Moroccan, and Israeli counterparts.

The King called for ending all unilateral Israeli measures, especially in Jerusalem, which undermines the prospects of achieving comprehensive and lasting peace, stressing that the goal is to have a Palestinian state living side-by-side with Israel in peace and security.

The monarch noted that Jordan would continue all efforts to preserve Jerusalem's historical and legal status quo and safeguard its Islamic and Christian holy sites under the Hashemite Custodianship.

During the talks, the monarch emphasized the importance of giving the Palestinian cause the required international momentum to avoid being eclipsed by other recent crises.

Abbas welcomed King Abdullah, who was accompanied by Crown Prince Al Hussein bin Abdullah II, saying: "We want to keep constant communication, whether through visits or contacts between us."

Abbas stressed that Jordan and Palestine share common interests, concerns, and hopes, underlining the importance of such visits.

He emphasized that "we never forget that the Jordanian position on the Palestinian issue is a Palestinian position, and we know that your Majesty's instructions that everything related to Palestine is not revised, but implemented immediately."

The meeting addressed recent developments in the Palestinian Territories and the need to maintain calm and stability, especially during the holy fasting month of Ramadan that begins in early April. They also stressed the importance of respecting the rights of Muslims to worship at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem without provocation or interference.

They discussed the importance of working with all sides to avoid any escalation that could undermine the prospects of achieving peace.

Talks also covered joint regional projects and means to allow Palestinian participation, especially in projects related to food security and mitigating the repercussions of the Ukraine crisis on the region.



Stormy Weather Sweeps Away Tents Belonging to Displaced People in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
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Stormy Weather Sweeps Away Tents Belonging to Displaced People in Gaza

Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)
Displaced Palestinians stand in front of tents along an inundated passage, following heavy rainfall north of Deir al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip on November 24, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Hamas. (AFP)

Weather is compounding the challenges facing displaced people in Gaza, where heavy rains and dropping temperatures are making tents and other temporary shelters uninhabitable.

Government officials in the Hamas-controlled coastal enclave said on Monday that nearly 10,000 tents had been swept away by flooding over the past two days, adding to their earlier warnings about the risks facing those sheltering in low-lying floodplains, including areas designated as humanitarian zones.

Um Mohammad Marouf, a mother who fled bombardments in northern Gaza and now is sheltering with her family in a Gaza City tent said the downpour had covered her children and left everyone wet and vulnerable.

“We have nothing to protect ourselves,” she said outside the United Nations-provided tent where she lives with 10 family members.

Marouf and others living in rows of cloth and nylon tents hung their drenched clothing on drying lines and re-erected their tarpaulin walls on Monday.

Officials from the Hamas-run government said that 81% of the 135,000 tents appeared unfit for shelter, based on recent assessments, and blamed Israel for preventing the entry of additional needed tents. They said many had been swept away by seawater or were inadequate to house displaced people as winter sets in.

The UNestimates that around 90% of Gaza's population of 2.3 million people have been displaced, often multiple times, and hundreds of thousands are living in squalid tent camps with little food, water or basic services. Israeli evacuation warnings now cover around 90% of the territory.

“The first rains of the winter season mean even more suffering. Around half a million people are at risk in areas of flooding. The situation will only get worse with every drop of rain, every bomb, every strike,” UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, wrote in a statement on X on Monday.