Jordan’s King Abdallah will meet Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on Monday for the first time in five years to discuss tensions at a Jerusalem holy site and wider political developments.
While the two leaders meet fairly frequently in Amman and other regional capitals, Abdallah has not visited Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority, since December 2012.
The king will fly in by helicopter, with the visit coordinated with Israeli authorities which control all entrance and exit points to the West Bank, including its 150 km (93 mile) border with Jordan and the air space above, reports Reuters.
The visit comes two weeks since a surge in violence in Jerusalem after Israel installed metal detectors at Muslim entrances to the Al Aqsa mosque compound, following the killing of two Israeli policemen.
The change in security led to days of protests and clashes between Palestinian worshippers and Israeli security forces before Israel, after consultations with Jordan, decided to remove the metal detectors and other measures.
Jordan has been the custodian of Jerusalem’s Muslim holy sites since the 1920s. The compound, which sits on a tree-lined plateau in the Old City, is also revered by Jews, who call it Temple Mount, the site of two ancient Jewish temples.
Palestinian officials provided little detail on what Abbas and Abdallah would discuss, but said the situation at Al Aqsa and broader political concerns would be touched on.
“The visit comes in the course of continued consultation and coordination on all levels,” said Nabil Abu Rudainah, Abbas’s spokesman.
