Jordan’s King Abdullah II said on Sunday that his kingdom was involved in intensive diplomacy to halt what he characterized as an “Israeli military escalation”, Reuters reported.
The monarch, whose ruling family has custodianship of Muslim and Christian sites in Jerusalem, did not elaborate on the diplomacy.
Jordanian government officials have told Reuters that Jordan is leading a diplomatic campaign with its European and US allies to put pressure on Israel to end its air and artillery barrage on Gaza since fighting erupted last Monday.
“There are intensive contacts with international parties to halt Israel’s escalation,” the monarch was quoted as saying.
Earlier on Sunday, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Israel’s actions were pushing the region towards a wider conflict.
“Israel carries as the existing occupation force responsibility for the dangerous situation in occupied Palestinian land and what it is causing in violence, killings, destruction and suffering,” Safadi said, according to Reuters.
Jordan last week summoned the Israeli charge d'affaires of the Israeli embassy in Amman during the Arab violence in eastern Jerusalem.
Jordan signed a peace deal with Israel in 1994 but has been critical of Israeli plans to apply sovereignty over Judea and Samaria and has repeatedly stressed the importance of a two-state solution to resolve the Israeli conflict with the Palestinian Arabs.
The Jordanian parliament, which is made up mostly of Islamists, remains anti-Israel and its members have more than once called to annul the peace treaty. This decision, however, can only be made by the King.
Despite recent tensions between Israel and Jordan, however, a senior member of the defense establishment recently visited Jordan.
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