Abdullah greets Abbas
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, right, is welcomed by King Abdullah of Jordan in Amman yesterday.
King Abdullah II of Jordan and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas met in Amman yesterday to discuss the future of UNRWA ahead of an expected push on a controversial United States-led peace plan.
The meeting at Al Husseiniya Palace came days after statements from US officials that suggested President Donald Trump’s government could dismantle the agency.
Media reports also claimed that Jared Kushner, Mr Trump’s son-in-law and senior adviser to the Middle East, had in June urged Jordan to strip refugee status from Palestinians in the kingdom.
Almost half of the country’s 6.5 million citizens are of Palestinian descent; 2.2 million of whom are registered with the UN as refugees. The agency runs 10 official camps that
The two leaders stressed the international community’s importance in supporting UN agency
are home to more than 390,000 Palestinian refugees and runs 171 schools for 120,000 pupils in the kingdom.
At the meeting, attended by Jordan’s Crown Prince Hussein bin Abdullah, the two leaders discussed the need for the international community to support the agency.
Doing so would advance the educational, health and relief services to millions of refugees, said the Royal Hashemite Court.
In an apparent reference to the relocation of the US embassy to Jerusalem and the Trump government’s recognition of the contested city as Israel’s capital, King Abdullah reaffirmed that its status must be settled as a final status issue. He said the holy city was “key to achieving peace in the region”.
The monarch also vowed to continue the Hashemite custodianship of Islamic and Christian sites.
The king, however, also spoke of the importance of working with the US administration and the international community to “find political prospects that serve Palestinian interests and the rights of the Palestinian people”.
Mr Abbas has reiterated the Palestinian Authority’s rejection of the yet-to-be-revealed Trump peace plan, saying Washington can no longer be seen as an honest broker in negotiations.
He expressed appreciation for Jordan’s “steadfast support for the Palestinian cause” and praised the king for “defending the rights of the Palestinian people”.
Mr Abbas was yesterday scheduled to travel to Qatar to meet the emir, Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani. Discussions were expected to include the oft-tabled reconciliation between Hamas and Fatah.