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Biden Renews Support for Jordan’s Long-Running Role as Custodian of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque

US President Joe Biden meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Friday. (dpa)
US President Joe Biden meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Friday. (dpa)
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Biden Renews Support for Jordan’s Long-Running Role as Custodian of Jerusalem, Al-Aqsa Mosque

US President Joe Biden meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Friday. (dpa)
US President Joe Biden meets with Jordanian King Abdullah II at the White House on Friday. (dpa)

US President Joe Biden renewed on Friday his country’s support for Jordan's crucial role as the custodian of Muslim holy sites, particularly Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.

Biden met with King Abdullah II of Jordan in Washington on Friday amid tensions in the Palestinian Territories where clashes erupted in recent weeks at Jerusalem's Al-Aqsa mosque compound.

The situation worsened this week with the killing of veteran Al Jazeera journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, a dual Palestinian-American national, when she was covering Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank area of Jenin.

King Abdullah's visit to Washington is his second since Biden came to office. He was accompanied by his wife, Queen Rania, and his eldest son, Crown Prince Hussein.

In a statement following the meeting, the White House said Biden reaffirmed the close and enduring nature of the friendship between the United States and Jordan.

“Biden cited the need to preserve the historic status quo at the Haram al-Sharif and he also recognized the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan’s crucial role as the custodian of Muslim holy places in Jerusalem,” the White House statement said.

It added that both leaders consulted on recent events in the region and discussed urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric and reduce tensions in Israel and the West Bank.

The leaders then discussed the political and economic benefits of further regional integration in infrastructure, energy, water, and climate projects, with Jordan a critical hub for such cooperation and investment.

“Jordan is a critical ally and force for stability in the Middle East,” Biden stressed.

Before his meeting with Biden, King Abdullah II met with a number of officials from the US administration and several congressmen.

On Thursday, he sat down with US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the Pentagon, where the King warned against the continuous cycle of violence in the Palestinian Territories, especially in light of unilateral Israeli measures, stressing that the repercussions would be damaging to regional security and stability.

For his part, Austin expressed his country’s concern over the latest escalation and violence in East Jerusalem and the West Bank, commending the King’s "critical role" in de-escalating tensions, and noting that the US looks to work with Jordan towards security, stability and just peace for the Palestinians and the Israelis.

Biden is expected to visit the region late next month, where he will meet in Prime Minister Naftali Bennett in Israel and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Bethlehem.

The Biden administration had announced its support for a “sovereign and democratic” Palestinian state. Biden had previously announced plans to reopen the US consulate in East Jerusalem.

Former President Donald Trump closed the Jerusalem consulate and placed its staff within the US Embassy to Israel that was moved to Jerusalem from Tel Aviv in 2018.

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Arab World

Baghdad Sends Team to Saudi Arabia, UAE to Trace Attacks

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (AFP)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (AFP)
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Baghdad Sends Team to Saudi Arabia, UAE to Trace Attacks

Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (AFP)
Iraqi Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi (AFP)

A senior Iraqi security team will soon travel to Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates to request intelligence on the trajectory and launch sites of attacks that targeted the two countries, an Iraqi government official said on Thursday, as part of an ongoing investigation.

The Iraqi official, who asked not to be identified because he was not authorized to speak publicly, said the Ministerial Council for National Security, at its latest meeting chaired by Prime Minister and Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces Ali al-Zaidi, approved the formation of an investigative committee into the attacks, including two teams, one of which will travel to Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

The Iraqi government said on Wednesday it would take “all measures against those involved” if it was proven that Iraqi territory had been used as a launchpad for attacks targeting Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

It said a special committee had been formed to coordinate with the relevant authorities in both countries and to follow up on the ongoing investigations.

The Iraqi official told Asharq Al-Awsat that the investigative team would use evidence and radar maps to track the parties involved.

“The investigative committee will submit its final report to Prime Minister Ali al-Zaidi as soon as it completes its work,” they said.

Earlier, Sabah al-Numan, spokesman for the Commander in Chief of the Armed Forces, said in a statement that the Ministerial Council for National Security had discussed the continuing investigations into the attacks that targeted Saudi Arabia and the UAE.

He said a special committee had been formed to contact officials in the two countries, and that the prime minister had ordered that all measures be taken against those involved if it was proven that Iraqi territory had been used as a launchpad for the attacks.

Separately, the Coordination Framework alliance said in a statement late on Wednesday that it rejected any attack or aggression targeting neighboring or Arab countries, stressing “the importance of respecting the sovereignty of states and sparing the region further tension.”

It also called on security agencies to complete the ongoing investigations and take the necessary measures to protect Iraq’s security and sovereignty.

The UAE demanded that the Iraqi government urgently and unconditionally prevent “all hostile acts” emanating from its territory, following a drone attack that targeted the Barakah nuclear power plant.

Saudi Arabia condemned the attack on the UAE “in the strongest terms,” saying it categorically rejected attacks that threaten the region’s security and stability.

The Saudi Foreign Ministry stressed the Kingdom’s full solidarity with the UAE and its support for all measures taken by Abu Dhabi to preserve its sovereignty, security and territorial integrity.

On the security front, Iraq’s Counter Terrorism Service announced the opening of an intelligence coordination center within the Counter Terrorism Forces Command, in a move it said was aimed at strengthening the agency’s intelligence capabilities and unifying efforts among different intelligence units.

The Counter Terrorism Service said in a statement that its chief, Staff Lieutenant General Karim al-Tamimi, visited the headquarters of the Counter Terrorism Forces Command and opened the intelligence coordination center.

It said the center aimed to strengthen and unify intelligence efforts, increase the intelligence capabilities of the agency’s personnel, and enhance coordination and cooperation among different intelligence units.

Arab World

Hezbollah Shifts Fight to Counter Israeli Expansion Attempts

Officials carry the bodies of victims killed in the Israeli strike on the southern village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, outside Jabal Amel Hospital in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, before the bodies were transferred to their hometown for burial, as security conditions prevented families from holding the farewell ceremony in the village, on May 21, 2026. (Photo by KAWANT HAJU / AFP)
Officials carry the bodies of victims killed in the Israeli strike on the southern village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, outside Jabal Amel Hospital in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, before the bodies were transferred to their hometown for burial, as security conditions prevented families from holding the farewell ceremony in the village, on May 21, 2026. (Photo by KAWANT HAJU / AFP)
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Hezbollah Shifts Fight to Counter Israeli Expansion Attempts

Officials carry the bodies of victims killed in the Israeli strike on the southern village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, outside Jabal Amel Hospital in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, before the bodies were transferred to their hometown for burial, as security conditions prevented families from holding the farewell ceremony in the village, on May 21, 2026. (Photo by KAWANT HAJU / AFP)
Officials carry the bodies of victims killed in the Israeli strike on the southern village of Deir Qanoun al-Nahr, outside Jabal Amel Hospital in the Tyre area of south Lebanon, before the bodies were transferred to their hometown for burial, as security conditions prevented families from holding the farewell ceremony in the village, on May 21, 2026. (Photo by KAWANT HAJU / AFP)

Hezbollah sent a message to Arab and other embassies in Lebanon on Thursday, setting out its demands to their governments: an end to assassinations, the withdrawal of Israeli forces from Lebanese territory, the return of residents to their villages, and the release of detainees held by Israel.

It said the issue of its weapons should be addressed through “internal dialogue.”

The move came as military operations continued in south Lebanon, including an explosion in one village on the third line from the Israeli border, while Hezbollah focused on countering what it sees as Israeli attempts to expand deeper into Lebanese territory.

Hezbollah is trying to prevent any further Israeli advance in south Lebanon aimed at tightening control over villages within or around the “yellow line.” Security sources in the south told Asharq Al-Awsat the group’s pressure is concentrated on likely points of new incursions, especially around Zawtar in the eastern sector on the Litani River bank.

They said Israeli forces were trying to push through those vulnerable areas toward Lebanon’s interior, whether in Zawtar or Hadatha.

Israeli forces advanced on Wednesday into the eastern neighborhood of Hadatha, a town on the third line of border villages. Hezbollah said it had confronted the advance from several directions.

Local sources said later on Wednesday that Israeli forces carried out an explosion in the eastern neighborhood, alongside heavy air and artillery strikes on the town.

The advance began from Rshaf, a town on the second line of border villages. Rshaf is adjacent to Debel, a Christian town, many of whose residents have been displaced to the Christian towns of Rmeish and Ain Ebel, while others fled to areas deeper inside Lebanon during the third week of the expanded war.

Security sources in South Lebanon said Hezbollah intensified its operations in the area to prevent Israeli forces from entering Hadatha and seizing it.

They said the group had “concentrated its military weight in that area, in the face of an Israeli military weight focused on the same area to advance inland.”

The intensity was reflected in Hezbollah statements announcing rocket salvos and suicide drone attacks on gatherings of Israeli army vehicles and soldiers in Debel and Rshaf, as well as attacks around Hadatha “with attack drones and heavy rocket salvos in repeated waves.”

On the Israeli side, the Hebrew website Walla reported that Colonel Meir Biderman, commander of the 401st Brigade, was wounded in a Hezbollah attack in Debel.

It quoted a military source as saying Biderman “entered a building in south Lebanon that was known to be protected in order to sleep there, then came under attack by a drone.”

The source said the brigade commander was seriously wounded when the drone exploded.

(COMBO) This combination of handout satellite images taken by Planet Labs PBC shows views of the village of Yaroun in southern Lebanon close to the border with Israel on (top L to R followed by bottom L to R) October 5, 2024; January 10, 2025; January 30, 2025; and on May 2, 2026. (Photo by 2026 Planet Labs PBC / AFP)

3,089 killed

Air and artillery strikes continued inside Lebanon. The Health Ministry said 3,089 people had been killed and 9,397 wounded from March 2 to May 21.

The escalation also continued on the ground. An Israeli drone struck a motorcycle in Froun, killing its driver. Artillery fire hit Kfar Dounin, Baraachit, Mansouri, Beit Yahoun and Touline. Israeli warplanes struck Ghandouriyeh.

Israeli warplanes also raided the outskirts of Touline and the road between Toura and Jennata in the Tyre district.

An Israeli drone dropped sound bombs near farmers in Haniyeh, south of Tyre, without causing casualties.

Smoke rises from the site of an Israeli airstrike that targeted the southern Lebanese village of Deir El Zahrani on May 13, 2026. (Photo by Kawnat HAJU / AFP)

Hezbollah turns to Western and Arab states

Against that backdrop, Hezbollah, through its parliamentary Loyalty to the Resistance bloc, turned to foreign and Arab diplomatic missions in Beirut. The message addressed governments on the situation in the south and sought to justify the fighting there.

In a memo explaining the field situation during the 15 months before it joined Iran’s support war, the bloc said political and diplomatic efforts “did not lead to a halt to these Israeli crimes against our country.”

It said the Lebanese government had failed to compel “the occupying entity” and the sponsors of the agreement to implement it, while the committee tasked with applying the agreement, “the mechanism,” had deliberately failed to do its job, worsening the suffering of the Lebanese people.

The bloc said: “Our demand as Lebanese, and the demand of everyone keen on the sovereignty, independence and freedom of their country, is to stop all forms of aggression against our national sovereignty by air, land and sea, to halt hostile actions, including the assassination of citizens and the targeting of civilian infrastructure, homes and public and private institutions, the withdrawal of the Israeli enemy army from our land to the internationally recognized borders, the return of residents to their villages and their reconstruction, and the release of detainees from occupation prisons.”

It added: “As for other issues linked to protecting Lebanon, they are a Lebanese matter that can be addressed through internal dialogue leading to the completion of a national security strategy to which all Lebanese commit,” a reference to Hezbollah’s disarmament.

Arab World

Building Collapse Kills 11 People in Morocco's Fez

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
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Building Collapse Kills 11 People in Morocco's Fez

The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)
The Moroccan flag is seen in front of a destroyed building following the devastating earthquake in Marrakesh last month. (Reuters)

Eleven people were killed and six others injured when a four-storey building collapsed overnight in the Moroccan city of Fez, about 200 kilometres (124 miles) east of Rabat, state-owned broadcaster 2M said on Thursday.

Authorities said a search for others who might still be buried was ongoing. Media showed footage of rescuers and residents digging through the rubble, Reuters reported.

An investigation has been launched into the incident, and residents of adjacent buildings were asked to evacuate as a precaution against potential further collapses, authorities said.

Fez, a former capital dating back to the eighth century and the country's third-most-populous city, has seen similar incidents in recent months, including one in December when two buildings collapsed, killing at least 22 people.

In 2010, the collapse of a minaret in the historic northern city of Meknes killed 41 people.

Adib Ben Ibrahim, housing secretary of state, said last year that approximately 38,800 buildings across the country had been classified as being at risk of collapse.