Jordan King Condemns ‘Violence in All Forms’, in Israel Talks

A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog talking during a meeting in the capital Amman. (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog talking during a meeting in the capital Amman. (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)
TT

Jordan King Condemns ‘Violence in All Forms’, in Israel Talks

A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog talking during a meeting in the capital Amman. (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)
A handout picture released by the Jordanian Royal Palace shows Jordan's King Abdullah II and Israeli President Isaac Herzog talking during a meeting in the capital Amman. (Jordanian Royal Palace/AFP)

Jordan's King Abdullah II on Wednesday condemned "violence in all its forms" in a meeting with visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog, following a spate of deadly attacks in the Jewish state.

A total of 11 people have been killed in three attacks in the space of a week in Israel, the latest of them on Tuesday.

Abdullah expressed "Jordan's condemnation of violence in all its forms, and the resulting loss of more innocent" lives, a palace statement said.

He pointed to "the regrettable attacks that have targeted civilians from both sides, including yesterday's attack", warning it was "the Israelis and Palestinians who pay the price".

"This conflict has lasted a long time, and the resulting violence continues to cause much pain and offers a fertile ground for extremism," he said.

Four civilians and a policeman were killed on Tuesday when a Palestinian assailant opened fire at passers-by in the town of Bnei Brak near Tel Aviv.

Ahead of Ramadan, the Israeli president said that "we have to move towards allowing the performance of religious rites peacefully", adding that "this is what we are discussing with Jordan", according to the palace.

"Having Muslim leaders meet Jewish and Israeli leaders is an alternative to the abyss of hatred and bloodshed," Herzog said, quoted by his office.

Herzog's visit comes one day after Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz was in Amman, where he also met the king, in a bid to seek calm ahead of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, starting in April.

Tensions flared last year during Ramadan between Israeli forces and Palestinians visiting Al-Aqsa mosque in annexed east Jerusalem, leading to 11 days of conflict between Israel and the Hamas movement which rules Gaza.

Jordan, which established ties with Israel in 1994, has traditionally played the role of mediator between Israel and the Palestinians.

The kingdom also serves as custodian of the holy places in east Jerusalem, which Israel seized in 1967 and later annexed in a move not recognized by most of the international community.

In his meeting with Gantz, Abdullah called on Israel to "lift all obstacles that could prevent (Muslims) from performing prayers" at Al-Aqsa and "prevent any provocations that could lead to escalation".



Israeli Army Orders Gaza City Suburb Evacuated, Spurring New Displacement Wave

A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
TT

Israeli Army Orders Gaza City Suburb Evacuated, Spurring New Displacement Wave

A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)
A Palestinian man points at a damaged building in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip on November 20, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement. (Photo by Omar AL-QATTAA / AFP)

The Israeli military issued new evacuation orders to residents in areas of an eastern Gaza City suburb, setting off a new wave of displacement on Sunday, and a Gaza hospital director was injured in an Israeli drone attack, Palestinian medics said.
The new orders for the Shejaia suburb posted by the Israeli army spokesperson on X on Saturday night were blamed on Palestinian militants firing rockets from that heavily built-up district in the north of the Gaza Strip.
"For your safety, you must evacuate immediately to the south," the military's post said. The rocket volley on Saturday was claimed by Hamas' armed wing, which said it had targeted an Israeli army base over the border.
Footage circulated on social and Palestinian media, which Reuters could not immediately verify, showed residents leaving Shejaia on donkey carts and rickshaws, with others, including children carrying backpacks, walking.
Families living in the targeted areas began fleeing their homes after nightfall on Saturday and into Sunday's early hours, residents and Palestinian media said - the latest in multiple waves of displacement since the war began 13 months ago.
In central Gaza, health officials said at least 10 Palestinians were killed in Israeli airstrikes on the urban camps of Al-Maghazi and Al-Bureij since Saturday night.
HOSPITAL DIRECTOR WOUNDED BY GUNFIRE
In north Gaza, where Israeli forces have been operating against regrouping Hamas militants since early last month, health officials said an Israeli drone dropped bombs on Kamal Adwan Hospital, injuring its director Hussam Abu Safiya.
"This will not stop us from completing our humanitarian mission and we will continue to do this job at any cost," Abu Safiya said in a video statement circulated by the health ministry on Sunday.
"We are being targeted daily. They targeted me a while ago but this will not deter us...," he said from his hospital bed.
Israeli forces say armed militants use civilian buildings including housing blocks, hospitals and schools for operational cover. Hamas denies this, accusing Israeli forces of indiscriminately targeting populated areas.
Kamal Adwan is one of three hospitals in north Gaza that are barely operational as the health ministry said the Israeli forces have detained and expelled medical staff and prevented emergency medical, food and fuel supplies from reaching them.
In the past few weeks, Israel said it had facilitated the delivery of medical and fuel supplies and the transfer of patients from north Gaza hospitals in collaboration with international agencies such as the World Health Organization.
Residents in three embattled north Gaza towns - Jabalia, Beit Lahiya and Beit Hanoun - said Israeli forces had blown up hundreds of houses since renewing operations in an area that Israel said months ago had been cleared of militants.
Palestinians say Israel appears determined to depopulate the area permanently to create a buffer zone along the northern edge of Gaza, an accusation Israel denies.
Israel's campaign in Gaza has killed more than 44,000 people, uprooted nearly all the enclave's 2.3 million population at least once, according to Gaza officials, while reducing wide swathes of the narrow coastal territory to rubble.
The war erupted in response to a cross-border attack by Hamas-led militants on Oct. 7, 2023 in which gunmen killed around 1,200 people and took more than 250 hostages back to Gaza, according to Israeli tallies.