Jordan’s King Abdullah on Sunday called for intensifying international efforts to achieve a just and lasting peace and end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the two-state solution.
King Abdullah, who was speaking during a meeting with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas in Aqaba, said that Jordan “stands with all its energies and capabilities alongside the Palestinian brothers in achieving their just and legitimate rights and establishing their independent, sovereign and viable state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” according to the Jordanian news agency Petra.
It said that Abdullah and Abbas discussed developments related to the Palestinian issue as part of continuous coordination and consultation between the two sides.
The meeting was attended by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and Director of the Jordanian Intelligence Directorate, General Ahmad Husni.
The Jordanian monarch also stressed “the need to preserve the existing legal and historical status in Jerusalem, stressing the Kingdom’s rejection of all unilateral measures aimed at changing the identity of the city and its sanctities, and attempts to divide al-Aqsa Mosque/ the Noble Sanctuary in time and place [between Muslims and Jews],” the agency added.
Jordan, he added, “continues to play its historical and religious role in protecting Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem in accordance with the Hashemite guardianship of these sanctities.”
This was Abbas’s first trip abroad since the outbreak of the coronavirus pandemic earlier this year. Abbas, 85, was scheduled to arrive in Cairo later on Sunday for talks with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah Sisi.
Abbas’s talks with Abdullah and Sisi are seen in the context of Palestinian preparations for dealing with a new US administration under Joe Biden. Abbas is also seeking Arab support for his initiative to convene an international conference for peace in the Middle East early next year.
During Sunday’s meeting, Abbas thanked King Abdullah for his support for the rights of the Palestinians, the PA’s official news agency said. Abbas also stressed “the importance of continuing to strive towards achieving a just and comprehensive peace.”
Abbas is accompanied by Hussein al-Sheikh, head of the Palestinian General Authority for Civil Affairs, and Majed Faraj, head of the Palestinian General Intelligence Service.