Middle-east Arab News Opinion | Asharq Al-awsat

Jordanian Monarch to Visit Palestinian Authority Leader in Ramallah | ASHARQ AL-AWSAT English Archive 2005 -2017
Select Page
Media ID: 55380387
Caption:

Following the attack, Friday prayers at al-Aqsa were cancelled for the first time in decades [Reuters]


Tel Aviv- Israeli diplomatic sources on Friday said that recent developments show evidence of a clear escalation with Jordan’s capital Amman, as Jordanian King Abdullah II announced paying a rare visit Palestinian Authority headquarters in Ramallah.

The visit scheduled to take place on Monday, during which King Abdullah will meet with President Mahmoud Abbas, and discussed ways of continuing coordination and cooperation between the two authorities, following the most recent Israeli transgression against Islam’s third holiest site, Al-Aqsa Mosque.

Sources added that King Abdullah will be boarding his helicopter, explaining that his visit will brief, a few hours at most. He will then return to Amman without meeting with Israeli officials.

Israeli political sources considered the visit as disturbing, in which the Jordanian monarch expresses anger with the Israeli government and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu over Al-Aqsa crisis.

A former Israeli ambassador to Jordan said that “Israel is now paying the price of the childish and provocative behavior that Netanyahu did when he received the security officer at the embassy with laughter and joke, even though he killed Jordanian citizens in cold blood.”

Other sources added that Israel had received hints from Amman that King Abdullah was expecting a strong and meaningful action by Israel to correct the situation.

The Palestinian Authority received Jordanian and Arab positions positively during the Al-Aqsa crisis, but warned that Israel had not halted its plots for Jerusalem and Al-Aqsa.

Jerusalem has been transformed into military barracks, as Israeli forces incessantly pile up restrictions on Muslim prayers and continue to control Palestinian properties.

On the advancing of Israeli settlements in predominantly Palestinian neighborhoods, sources revealed that Israeli authorities were planning to demolish a large part of the Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood, while continuing their push o in Silwan, Ras al-Amud, and other areas.