JERUSALEM: Jordan’s King Abdallah II has told President Donald Trump that further coordination is important to prevent renewed tensions over a contested Jerusalem site.
Jordan’s Royal Court said the monarch also told Trump in a phone call that he valued the “key role” the US played in defusing the latest crisis.
Abdallah told Trump it is important to maintain the status quo at the site, a frequent flashpoint of Israeli-Palestinian tensions.
Jordan serves as custodian of the Muslim-administered shrine, the third holiest site of Islam and the most sacred one of Judaism.
Earlier this week, Israeli removed metal detectors it installed at the shrine after Arab gunmen killed two Israeli policemen there in mid-July.
Muslims staged mass protests over the detectors, viewing them as an encroachment on their rights.
Meanwhile, sources said Jordan has given Israel the results of its investigation into the shooting deaths of two Jordanians by an Israeli Embassy guard.
The state news agency Petra said the file was handed over after Jordan’s attorney general filed murder charges against the guard and called on Israel to put him on trial.
Jordanian authorities have said the guard opened fire after a 16-year-old attacked him with a screw driver. A Jordanian standing near the teen was also killed.
The guard, along with the rest of the embassy staff, returned to Israel under the protection of diplomatic immunity.
He received a warm welcome from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, to the dismay of Jordan.
The Jordan’s king has called Netanyahu’s behavior “unacceptable and provocative.”
Meanwhile in Jerusalem, Israel barred men under 50 from Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa compound, leading thousands of Palestinians to hold mass prayers outside.
Worshippers entered the compound for prayers after Palestinians ended a boycott of the site the previous day. Despite fears of violent clashes around the compound, the area was largely calm following Friday’s midday prayers.
Dozens of young Palestinians shouted and protested near one entrance to the compound and minor scuffles broke out with police.
A Palestinian teen was killed in clashes in Gaza, sources said.
They said a 16-year-old was killed in Jerusalem. Several demonstrations were held in the coastal territory ruled by Hamas.
Clashes also erupt in parts of the occupied West Bank, including in the Nablus, Bethlehem and Hebron areas, the Israeli army said
Also on Friday, Turkey’s Foreign Ministry said the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) will hold an extraordinary meeting to discuss the Jerusalem crisis.
A ministry statement said the meeting — to be attended by OIC foreign ministers — will be held on Aug. 1 in Istanbul. Turkey holds the term presidency of the organization.
This week, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan called on all Muslims to defend the Al-Aqsa Mosque and accused Israel of trying to take over the contested holy site in Jerusalem under the pretext of fighting terrorism.
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Jordan’s King acknowledges US role in defusing Jerusalem crisis
Jordan’s King acknowledges US role in defusing Jerusalem crisis
Sudanese nomads trapped as war fuels banditry and ethnic splits
- War disrupts nomads’ traditional routes and livelihoods
- Nomads face threats from bandits as well as ethnic tensions
NEAR AL-OBEID: Gubara Al-Basheer and his family used to traverse Sudan’s desert with their camels and livestock, moving freely between markets, water sources, and green pastures. But since war erupted in 2023, he and other Arab nomads have been stuck in the desert outside the central Sudanese city of Al-Obeid, threatened by marauding bandits and ethnic tensions. The war between the Sudanese army and the paramilitary Rapid Support Forces (RSF) has left nearly 14 million people displaced, triggered rounds of ethnic bloodshed, and spread famine and disease. It has also upset the delicate balance of land ownership and livestock routes that had maintained the nomads’ livelihoods and wider relations in the area, local researcher Ibrahim Jumaa said. Al-Obeid is one of Sudan’s largest cities and capital of North Kordofan state, which has seen the war’s heaviest fighting in recent months. Those who spoke to Reuters from North Kordofan said they found themselves trapped as ethnic hatred, linked to the war and fueled largely online, spreads.
“We used to be able to move as we wanted. Now there is no choice and no side accepts you,” al-Basheer said. “In the past there were a lot of markets where we could buy and sell. No one hated anyone or rejected anyone. Now it’s dangerous,” he said.
RISK OF ROBBERY
As well as the encroaching war, the nomads — who Jumaa said number in the millions across Sudan — face a threat from bandits who steal livestock.
“There are so many problems now. We can’t go anywhere and if we try we get robbed,” said Hamid Mohamed, another shepherd confined to the outskirts of Al-Obeid. The RSF emerged from Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, which were accused of genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s. The US and rights groups have accused the RSF of committing genocide against non-Arabs in West Darfur during the current conflict, in an extension of long-running violence stemming from disputes over land. The RSF has denied responsibility for ethnically charged killings and has said those responsible for abuses will be held to account. Throughout the war the force has formed linkages with other Arab tribes, at times giving them free rein to loot and kidnap.
But some Arab tribes, and many tribesmen, have not joined the fight.
“We require a national program to counter hate speech, to impose the rule of law, and to promote social reconciliation, as the war has torn the social fabric,” said Jumaa.
“We used to be able to move as we wanted. Now there is no choice and no side accepts you,” al-Basheer said. “In the past there were a lot of markets where we could buy and sell. No one hated anyone or rejected anyone. Now it’s dangerous,” he said.
RISK OF ROBBERY
As well as the encroaching war, the nomads — who Jumaa said number in the millions across Sudan — face a threat from bandits who steal livestock.
“There are so many problems now. We can’t go anywhere and if we try we get robbed,” said Hamid Mohamed, another shepherd confined to the outskirts of Al-Obeid. The RSF emerged from Arab militias known as the Janjaweed, which were accused of genocide in Darfur in the early 2000s. The US and rights groups have accused the RSF of committing genocide against non-Arabs in West Darfur during the current conflict, in an extension of long-running violence stemming from disputes over land. The RSF has denied responsibility for ethnically charged killings and has said those responsible for abuses will be held to account. Throughout the war the force has formed linkages with other Arab tribes, at times giving them free rein to loot and kidnap.
But some Arab tribes, and many tribesmen, have not joined the fight.
“We require a national program to counter hate speech, to impose the rule of law, and to promote social reconciliation, as the war has torn the social fabric,” said Jumaa.
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