King of Jordan, visits Palestine, offers ‘full support’ for State

Ramallah, Palestinian Territories: Jordan’s King Abdullah II offered support to Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas during a rare visit Monday to the occupied West Bank following tensions with Israel over a flashpoint Jerusalem holy site.

Abdullah’s first trip to the West Bank in five years was seen as a message to Israel and the United States over the sensitive Al-Aqsa mosque compound and the stalled peace process.

It came less than two weeks after the end of a standoff at the holy site over new security measures, including metal detectors, imposed by Israel following an attack that killed two policemen.

Abdullah stressed to Abbas “the full Jordanian support for the legitimate rights of its brothers the Palestinian people and support for the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with its capital in east Jerusalem”, a statement from Jordan’s royal palace said.

He backed the need to protect Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa mosque compound, warning Israeli attempts to change the status quo — under which Jordan is custodian of the site and Jewish prayer is forbidden — “would have negative consequences for the whole region”.

The Al-Aqsa compound is also holy to Jews, who refer to it as the Temple Mount as it is believed to be on the site of the first and



second Jewish Temples, the latter of which was destroyed by the Romans in 70 AD.

Abdullah also “called for the commitment of US President Donald Trump to work to realise peace between Palestinians and Israelis”.

The king flew by helicopter to Ramallah and a red carpet welcome from Abbas. He returned to Jordan after a meeting that lasted around an hour and a half. The king did not meet any Israeli officials.

PALESTINIAN-ISRAEL-JORDAN-CONFLICTJordan’s King Abdullah II (C) and Palestinian President Mahmud Abbas (R) gesture during a visit in the West Bank city of Ramallah on Monday. Photo: AFPOpen

Jordan reacted angrily last month to the new security measures at the mosque compound, which sparked several days of protests and clashes in Jerusalem’s Old City, the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip.

Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki told reporters that Abbas and Abdullah on Monday discussed “direct Israeli attacks on the Al-Aqsa mosque”.

Tensions were exacerbated on July 23 when an Israeli security guard shot dead two Jordanians at the Israeli embassy compound in Amman.

One of the two men attacked the Israeli with a screwdriver, and the other was apparently shot dead by accident, Israeli officials said.