RAMALLAH, President Mahmoud Abbas Wednesday departed to the Jordanian capital, Amman, for a meeting with King Abdullah II.

The two leaders are scheduled to discuss the latest developments on the Palestinian arena, with focus on efforts to defend and protect the holy sites in the occupied city of East Jerusalem, and promote cooperation on issues of common interest.

The meeting, which will be attended by a host of officials from both sides, will be followed by an Iftar dinner.

The visit comes during the last week of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, which saw violent Israeli police crackdown on Palestinian worshippers at Jerusalem’s Bab al-Amoud and Al-Aqsa Mosque compound.

The 2022 tensions were reminiscent of the 2021 May and Ramadan tensions over Israeli settler takeover of Palestinian property in Sheikh Jarrah and encroachments upon the mosque compound.

During the 2021 Ramadan month, Jerusalem saw protests and night-time confrontations between Israeli police and Palestinian worshippers, with tensions mounting over the police decision to ban people from sitting on the stairs outside Bab al-Amoud under the guise of implementing the coronavirus restrictions, and its decision to disconnect the power supply to the call to prayer at the mosque compound.

The tensions further simmered following the forced expulsions of Palestinian families from their houses in Sheikh Jarrah.

Source: Palestine News & Info Agency