Amman: According to a Jordanian government official, Israel and the Palestinians will meet in Jordan on Sunday to discuss "political security" in an effort to quell recent deadly violence in the occupied Palestinian territories. Representatives from the US and Egypt will also be present at the meeting, which will be held in the Red Sea resort city of Aqaba.
According to the official's statement on Saturday, it aims to "build trust" between Israel and the Palestinians. The talks will take place after a gun battle on Wednesday involving Israeli troops raiding the city of Nablus in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since the 1967 Six-Day War, left 11 Palestinians dead and more than 80 injured.
The number of fatalities was the highest since the second Palestinian uprising, or intifada, came to an end in 2005, the year the UN began keeping tabs on fatalities.
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International alarm has been raised by the escalating unrest this year, which comes after violence in 2022, which was the deadliest in the West Bank since UN tracking began.
The political-security meeting is a component of Jordan's stepped-up efforts, coordinated with the Palestinian Authority and other parties, to put an end to Israel's unilateral actions and a security breakdown that might spark more violence, according to a Jordanian government official.
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According to the official, the talks are intended to produce "security and economic measures to lessen the hardships of the Palestinian people." Jordan is bound by a peace treaty with Israel, just like Egypt is. 62 Palestinian adults and children have died as a result of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since it began this year.
Israel has conducted a number of deadly military operations in the West Bank, the most recent of which was the raid on Wednesday. Israel is currently governed by a new coalition that is widely considered to be the most right-wing in its history.
In order to conduct a rare meeting with King Abdullah II, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who re-took office in December, travelled to Amman in January.
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According to the royal palace at the time, the king emphasised "the need to maintain calm and cease all acts of violence." In order to put an end to the long-running conflict, King Abdullah also reiterated Jordan's support for a two-state solution involving Israel and the Palestinians.