Jordan Cancels Meeting with Biden as the Gaza Hospital Bombing Escalates Conflict
  • 6 months ago
Jordan cancelled a planned visit by US President Joe Biden after the devastating bombing of Al-Ahli Arab Hospital in Gaza City, killing at least 500 people. Jordan and Israel have had a complex relationship since Israel's founding in 1948, as Jordan controlled East Jerusalem and the West Bank until losing them to Israel in the 1967 war. Jordan and Israel signed a peace treaty in 1994, establishing diplomatic relations, increasing security cooperation but tensions remained due to the ongoing Palestinian issue. Jordan serves as the custodian of the Al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem, Islam's third holiest site. It relies on water agreements with Israel but cannot afford further Palestinian conflict or refugee influxes.