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Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan evacuates 6 child cancer patients, 19 relatives from Gaza as part of promise to Trump
2025-05-21
[IsraelTimes] For the second time in days, Jordan carried out an evacuation of child cancer patients along with their family members from Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 as it works to gradually fulfill a promise King Abdullah made to US President Donald Trump
...They hit him with slander, they impeached him twice. Nancy Pelosi tore up his State of the Union address on national TV. They stole an election and put his adherents in jail. They vilified him. They couldn't crucify him, so they shot him. Still, they can't keep him down...
Six young patients and 19 family members were evacuated by the Jordan Armed Forces from Gaza, a Jordanian official tells The Times of Israel.

Abdullah announced during a February meeting with Trump that Jordan would take in 2,000 child cancer patients and other sick children from Gaza for treatment in the Hashemite kingdom, as Washington sought to push countries in the region to facilitate the emigration of Paleostinians from the war-torn Strip.

The total number of sick Gazook children taken in by Jordan now stands at 39, after four were evacuated last week with 12 of their family members and 29 were evacuated in March along with 44 family members.

The Jordanian official says Amman seeks to evacuate more children from Gaza, but Israeli authorities have "put up hurdles."

"Jordan wanted to evacuate all the children from Gaza by air, but Israeli authorities didn’t agree," the Jordanian official says, adding that the evacuations took place by land, with patients being driven into Israel and then through the West Bank before reaching Jordan for treatment at the King Hussein Cancer Center.

The official notes that Ammn is also seeking to deliver aid into Gaza and has 100 trucks sitting in Jordan that are ready to enter the Strip, but that Israel has not allowed them in.

While Israel has not guaranteed that those who leave Gaza will be able to return, a group of patients who had received treatment in Jordan were allowed back into the Strip on May 13. However,
there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly...
 before they reentered, Israeli authorities seized their belongings, including money, cellphones, and food, the Jordanian official says.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan evacuates 4 child cancer patients from Gaza, as it slowly works to meet commitment to Trump
2025-05-15
[IsraelTimes] Jordan carried out a medical evacuation of four child cancer patients and 12 of their family members from Gaza to the Hashemite kingdom earlier today, a Jordanian official tells The Times of Israel.

This follows King Abdullah’s announcement during a February meeting with US President Donald Trump that Jordan would take in 2,000 child cancer patients from Gaza, as Washington sought to push countries in the region to facilitate the emigration of Palestinians from the war-torn Strip.

The total number of cancer patients taken in by Jordan now stands at 33, after 29 were medically evacuated in March along with 44 family members.

The slow pace and small number of evacuations have reportedly been a point of tension for US Health Secretary Robert Kennedy Jr. and Democratic House Representative Nancy Pelosi, who have both raised their frustration with Jordanian counterparts.

Politico reported that Jordanian officials in response noted that Israel was refusing to commit to allowing those who leave to return upon completion of their treatment, leaving family members unable to reunite with their loved ones.

The Israeli stance has significantly hampered efforts to find countries to take Gazans, particularly given increasing comments from government officials in Jerusalem about plans to permanently occupy the Strip and build settlements in places where Palestinians once lived.

The Jordanian official tells The Times of Israel that Amman is still committed to meeting Abdullah’s pledge to Trump, despite the challenges.

“Jordan wanted to evacuate all the children from Gaza by air, but Israeli authorities didn’t agree,” the Jordanian official says, adding that the evacuations took place by land, with patients being driven into Israel and then through the West Bank before reaching Jordan.

The transport through Israel ostensibly required the cooperation of Israeli authorities, but a separate Jordanian statement only mentions cooperation with the World Health Organization.
Link


Government Corruption
After a 6 week review, 83 % of USAID programs have now been eliminated
2025-05-01
[X]

Jordan to continue receiving US financial support despite Trump’s cuts to foreign aid

[IsraelTimes] Washington provides Amman assurances that annual financing for budgetary aid, water infrastructure and defense to remain intact

Millions of dollars in US grants for Jordan’s largest water desalination project abruptly dried up when US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
 announced sweeping cuts to foreign aid in January.

Within two months, support was flowing again, a result of diplomacy that has arguably put the pivotal Middle Eastern state on a more solid financial footing than before the US president’s shock move to reshape global foreign aid in January, conversations with more than 20 sources in Jordan and the United States reveal.

Jordan — which stands behind only Ukraine, Israel and Æthiopia among the largest recipients of US aid globally — has won assurances from Washington that the bulk of financing worth at least $1.45 billion annually remains intact, including military and direct budgetary support, according to Rooters conversations with the sources.

Most of the sources, including Jordanian officials, diplomats, regional security officials, US officials and contractors involved in US aid projects, asked not to be named to discuss sensitive ongoing diplomatic discussions.

Four of these payments resumed in March to US firm CDM Smith, which USAID tasked with overseeing the $6 billion Aqaba-Amman Water Desali­na­tion and Conveyance Project, seen as key to the self-sufficiency of the arid kingdom.

The United States has for decades relied on Jordan to help achieve its goals in the Middle East, including during the Iraq War and as a partner in the fight against al-Qaeda in the region. Jordan hosts US forces under a treaty allowing them to deploy at its bases. The CIA works closely with Amman’s intelligence services.

Although several sources said much of the $430 million annual assistance for development programs remains frozen, hitting education and health projects, Molly Hickey, a Harvard doctoral researcher studying US aid and Jordan’s political landscape, said these areas are considered less strategically important.

"Trump has protected funding considered critical to Jordan’s stability, namely defense, water, and direct budget support," Hickey said, citing contacts with US officials that corroborate Rooters’ findings.

A US State Department spokesperson confirmed Jordan’s military aid was intact, calling Jordan a strong US partner with a critical role for regional security.

A decision has now been taken to continue US foreign military financing to all recipients, after US Secretary of State Marco Rubio
...The diminutive 13-year-old Republican U.S. Senator from Florida, Secretary of State in the second Trump administration...
 completed his review of foreign assistance awarded by State and USAID, the spokesperson said.

The assurances to Jordan, extended during visits by Jordan’s King Abdullah and Prime Minister Jafaar Hassan to Washington in recent weeks, have not previously been reported, and appear to mark a reversal of Trump’s earlier warning he could target Jordan’s aid if the country did not agree to take in large numbers of refugees under a proposal to turn Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 into a beach resort.

In a private White House meeting in February, Trump assured King Abdullah that US aid would not be used as leverage for political concessions, two US and two Jordanian officials familiar with the matter told Rooters.

The White House said questions on the issue should be directed to the State Department, which declined to comment on "ongoing negotiations."

Senior White House aides met in recent weeks to discuss the fate of Jordan’s financing, three officials with knowledge of the situation told Rooters, concluding that the kingdom’s stability was critical to US national security. There was agreement in the meetings that aid should be restructured and enhanced to directly support that goal, one of the officials said.

None of the sources described specific concessions by Jordan, instead pointing to its position as a stable ally whose longstanding peace deal with neighbor Israel and deep ties to Paleostinians were a bulwark against wider Middle East conflict.

"We appreciate the US economic and financial support and will continue to engage in discussions that will benefit the economic sectors of both countries," Jordan’s Minister of State for Communications Mohammad al-Momani told Rooters in response to a question about Hassan’s talks and whether Jordan’s lobbying to maintain critical aid was paying off.

ISLAMISTS OUTLAWED
A financial squeeze on Jordan does not serve US interests, given the kingdom’s vulnerability to "radical influences," said one senior Jordanian official, referring to the Islamist Moslem Brüderbund group, as well as Iranian proxies in the region.

Last week, Jordan outlawed the Moslem Brüderbund, a political movement that gave rise to Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
, after accusing its members of a major sabotage plot. The plot was announced on April 15, the same day Hassan met with Rubio. One official told Rooters the threat of political Islam and the Moslem Brüderbund was discussed at the meeting. Rooters could not establish whether they discussed banning the group.

Another bigwig and a regional intelligence official said economic pressure risked unrest among a population angered by the government’s treaty with Israel and its pro-Western stance. That view was bolstered by the foiled sabotage plot, the intelligence official said.

While Washington has moved to restore some World Food Program food projects to countries including Jordan, only a few of the USAID-led projects, including those promoting political and economic reform, have been brought back.

"Ensuring we have the right mix of programs to support US national security and other core national interests of the United States requires an agile approach. We will continue to make changes as needed," the State Department spokesperson said.

The largest component of US aid to Jordan is some $850 million in direct budget support, agreed under a seven-year strategic partnership signed in 2022. Government ministers had fretted in private that this money was at risk

"Eliminating that support would significantly worsen our deficit and debt burden," former Jordanian Planning Minister Wissam Rabadi said in televised remarks. "Today we face a deficit, and losing $800 million would be devastating."

However,
death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate...
 five of the sources, including two US sources, told Rooters that Washington has now assured Amman this year’s support, due in December and already factored into the $18 billion national budget, would not be touched.

SHAKEN BY TRUMP
Shaken by Trump’s threats, Jordan has simultaneously been locking down further assistance from other allies. It has turned to Europe, Gulf neighbors and multilateral lenders since Trump unveiled the global aid freeze in a January 20 memo, with the State Department initially offering waivers only for military aid to Egypt and Israel.

Last week, King Abdullah visited Mohammed bin Salman

...Crown Prince and modernizer of Saudi Arabia as of 2016. The Turks hate him, so he must be all right, despite the occasional brutal murder of Qatar-owned journalists...
, the crown prince of Jordan’s larger Arabian peninsula neighbor, Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
. One senior Jordanian official familiar with the discussions said Riyadh was considering a military aid package to strengthen Jordan’s defense capabilities. Ties with Saudi Arabia have been strained in recent years, and it has not previously provided military aid. The official did not give a sense of the potential scale of the package. The Saudi government media office and Jordan’s army front man did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

Two officials and a senior Western diplomat familiar with the talks with the IMF said the government was close to finalizing a sustainability agreement with the IMF to supplement its existing $1.2 billion, four-year EFF program. The new arrangement could unlock as much as an additional $750 million in tranches, they added. The IMF declined to comment.

Other negotiations have already yielded results: 3 billion euros over three years from the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
, announced days after Trump’s aid cuts by European Commission head Ursula von der Leyen, who cited "geopolitical shifts;" $1.1 billion in fresh financing from the World Bank and a $690 million package from the Kuwait-based Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, both approved in April.

Domestically, Hassan has been rallying corporations and business leaders to contribute to a national fund, raising over $100 million to relieve pressure on government finances.

"Jordan’s economy has largely weathered the storm," said Raad Mahmoud Al Tal, the head of the economics faculty at the University of Jordan. The government’s lobbying "allowed it to retain the bulk of core aid and even get bigger donor packages beyond what was anticipated."
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Jordan Declares War on Muslim Brotherhood
2025-04-25
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Jordan's political landscape is rapidly changing. Following the revelation of a secret "missile factory" by the security services, the kingdom's authorities have decided to completely ban the activities of the Muslim Brotherhood* group.

The decision was made almost instantly - literally a few days after the publication of details of the defeat of the failed underground missilemen. Most of the country's residents did not question the harsh reaction to the conspiracy.

At the same time, there is a high probability that, in addition to issues of national security, the foreign policy ambitions of official Amman played a role in the final defeat of the Brotherhood.

"BROTHERS" IN JORDAN
The Muslim Brotherhood has been active in Jordan for over eighty years, from the mid-1940s until recently, and was considered a serious political force.

The group had hidden influence over the country's civilian and military elites and even attempted several times to overthrow King Abdullah II.

The royal court responded in kind, with searches and arrests, as well as the temporary closure of individual offices of the group, and tightened control over its financial flows and political course.

However, for most of the time, both forces existed in a state of "cold peace".

Clouds began to gather over the group on April 21, when attacks against the Muslim Brotherhood began to be heard from the rostrum of the Jordanian parliament one after another.

Representatives of various political forces, both those close to the court and those who consider themselves part of the moderate opposition, accused the group of trying to sow discord and plunge Jordanian society into civil war, and to create a new “terrorist enclave” on the territory of the kingdom.

POLITICAL STORM
The accusations were prompted by reports from Jordanian security forces about the arrest in mid-April of a large group of underground fighters affiliated with the Brotherhood.

At an abandoned facility in the northwest of the country (dubbed the "rocket factory"), the conspirators manufactured homemade missiles and UAVs, and stockpiled weapons and explosives, all of which they allegedly intended to use against the authorities soon.

The deputies, clearly impressed by the scale of the secret arsenals, called on the Islamic Action Front (considered the political wing of the Brotherhood) sitting in parliament to publicly condemn the group's activities and even renounce them. Otherwise, the entire faction (31 deputies) risked losing their mandates in one fell swoop "for assisting the conspirators."

And although the speaker of parliament, Ahmad al-Safaadi, tried to soften the emotional attacks of some of his colleagues, the mistrust of the Front did not diminish, even taking into account the fact that some deputies complied with the demands and condemned the course of the Muslim Brotherhood.

The public defeat of the Brotherhood was completed by the Kingdom's Interior Minister Mazen Faraya. At a special briefing on April 23, he announced that due to the attempted anti-government conspiracy, the movement's activities in Jordan were completely banned. Any public support for the group - including online campaigning for it - would henceforth be prosecuted.

The Muslim Brotherhood’s attempts to defuse the crisis and present the activities of the detained underground fighters as “purely independent” and “separated” from all official structures have led to nothing.

THE PALESTINIAN INCIDENT
The Jordanian authorities not only dissolved the organization, but also confiscated its property and closed all its offices in the country.

At least five activists of the movement were detained "pending clarification of the circumstances." However, they were quickly released without any new charges.

It was not only the Muslim Brotherhood that came under attack from official Amman.

In parallel with the closure of the group's offices, Jordanian law enforcement officials began an operation against the Palestinian Hamas.

At least three mid-level Palestinian officials who were in the country legally were arrested in the past 24 hours and taken to al-Jandaweel prison, which has a reputation for being political.

It is also noteworthy that several days before this, several Palestinians from the Islamic Jihad faction were arrested in neighboring Syria.

The arrest was carried out by the authorities under the pretext of the Palestinians' cooperation with "anti-government forces," which shocked them quite a bit: "Islamic Jihad" and other factions felt quite comfortable in Syria not only during the Assad dynasty, but also after its overthrow, and they showed no intention of conflicting with the new Damascus.

PREPARING THE SOIL
Outside observers tend to link the two episodes together and interpret them as preparing the ground for the launch of negotiations on normalizing relations between Syria and Israel in the spirit of the Abraham Accords.

And Jordan, as one of Israel's oldest Arab "friends," is quite capable of playing the role of mediator and providing channels of communication between Damascus and Tel Aviv. Especially since interim President Ahmed al-Sharaa has declared his readiness for détente with the Israelis at least several times.

In addition, Jordan has significant strategic autonomy in organizing the negotiations and has no claims against either the Syrian or Israeli side, and is less focused on the interests of its neighbors. The same Saudi Arabia and Qatar are not in a hurry to get involved in mediation, fearing to cause discontent in Iran and Turkey.

The success of the new “Abrahamic” negotiations will not only raise Jordan’s prestige in the eyes of the US and Israel, but will also open up vast opportunities for the kingdom to strengthen its presence in the Syrian market – primarily in the energy sector, where the Turks currently hold virtually undivided sway.

However, for the successful implementation of such a combination, official Amman needs to keep all internal forces under complete control. In order to quickly extinguish any discontent with the change in the political balance.

And the Muslim Brotherhood, which is under conditional control, as well as the Islamic Action Front affiliated with them (which is also one of the largest consolidated political forces in parliament) could seriously stir up the public. And in a tactical alliance with Hamas, they could also turn the Palestinian communities living in the country against the throne.

Amman does not want to risk the stability of the dynasty for the sake of dubious political benefits, and therefore chose to solve the problem effectively, taking the confrontation with the “Brothers” beyond the political in advance.

Link


Fifth Column
Another round of anti-Trump protests hits US cities, reasons all over the map
2025-04-20
[IsraelTimes] Thousands decry president’s hardline policies, from immigration to intended deportation of some foreign students, with turnout lower than in previous ‘Hands Off’ rallies
But not even tens of thousands, despite pay-for-protest funding? It sounds like nobody cares any more, or perhaps they’re afraid of earning FBI attention…
Thousands of protesters rallied Saturday in New York, Washington and other cities across the United States for a second major round of demonstrations against President Donald Trump and his hardline policies.

In New York, people gathered outside the city’s main library carrying signs targeting the US president with slogans like “No Kings in America” and “Resist Tyranny.”

Many took aim at Trump’s deportations of undocumented migrants, chanting “No ICE, no fear, immigrants are welcome here,” a reference to the role of the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency in rounding up migrants.

In Washington, DC, protesters voiced concern that Trump was threatening long-respected constitutional norms, including the right to due process.

The administration is carrying out “a direct assault on the idea of the rule of law and the idea that the government should be restrained from abusing the people who live here in the United States,” Benjamin Douglas, 41, told AFP outside the White House.

Wearing a keffiyeh and carrying a sign calling for the freeing of Mahmoud Khalil, a pro-Palestinian, anti-Israel student protester arrested last month, Douglas claimed individuals were being singled out as “test cases to rile up xenophobia and erode long-standing legal protections.”

“We are in a great danger,” said 73-year-old New York protester Kathy Valy, the daughter of Holocaust survivors, adding that their stories of how Nazi leader Adolf Hitler rose to power “are what’s happening here.”

“The one thing is that Trump is a lot more stupid than Hitler or than the other fascists,” she said. “He’s being played… and his own team is divided.”

‘SCIENCE IGNORED’
Daniella Butler, 26, said she wanted to “call attention specifically to the defunding of science and health work” by the government.

Studying for a PhD in immunology at Johns Hopkins University, she was carrying a map of Texas covered with spots in reference to the ongoing measles outbreak there.

Trump’s health chief Robert F. Kennedy Jr., a noted vaccine skeptic, spent decades falsely linking the measles, mumps and rubella (MMR) shot to autism.

“When science is ignored, people die,” Butler said.

In deeply conservative Texas, the coastal city of Galveston saw a small gathering of anti-Trump demonstrators.

“This is my fourth protest and typically I would sit back and wait for the next election,” said 63-year-old writer Patsy Oliver. “We cannot do that right now. We’ve lost too much already.”

On the West Coast, several hundred people gathered on a beach in San Francisco to spell out the words “IMPEACH + REMOVE,” the San Francisco Chronicle reported. Others nearby held an upside-down US flag, traditionally a symbol of distress.

Organizers hope to use building resentment over Trump’s immigration crackdown, his drastic cuts to government agencies and his pressuring of universities, news media and law firms, to forge a lasting movement.
A lot of people voted for him to get all that, so we’re happy.
The chief organizer of Saturday’s protests — the group 50501, a number representing 50 protests in 50 states and one movement — said some 400 demonstrations were planned.
Four hundred, half a dozen — whatever.
Its website said the protests are “a decentralized rapid response to the anti-democratic and illegal actions of the Trump administration and its plutocratic allies” — and it insisted on all protests being non-violent.

The group called for millions to take part Saturday, though turnout appeared smaller than the “Hands Off” protests across the country on April 5.

Recall that former Wall Street Journal reporter Asra Nomani tracked down the organizers and some of their funders here.
Related:
50501: 2025-04-01 Elon Musk asked, ‘Who is funding and organizing all these [Tesla Takedown] paid protests?’
50501: 2025-02-19 Black Lives Matter leader rejects protests against Trump, Elon Musk''s DOGE team
50501: 2024-02-12 Jordan’s King Abdullah takes part in Gaza aid airdrop
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
'Chaos within the kingdom': Jordan's secret service's success hurts rebel prince
2025-04-19
Direct Translation via Google Translate. Edited.
by Leonid Tsukanov

[REGNUM] Recently, Jordan's special services managed to hit the jackpot. In the northwest of the country, an underground workshop for the production of missiles and drones was uncovered and liquidated. The General Intelligence Directorate (GID) captured 16 people. The scandal exposed Jordan's problems, which at first glance seemed forgotten.

And while some are looking for clients abroad or among disgraced political movements, others are turning their gaze to the royal court.

AWAY FROM EVERYONE
Authorities say the plotters planned attacks using missiles and drones and stockpiled explosives to fill them, including C4 and SEMTEX-H plastic explosives.

Moreover, they were clearly not amateurs - the ammunition discovered in underground workshops was clearly created by engineers familiar with the latest trends in rocket engineering.

The production line was set up in the northwest of the country, away from prying eyes.

It was not possible to assess the real scale of production - the underground workers managed to destroy some of the property before the Jordanian security forces launched an assault.

However, an arsenal of several newly manufactured missiles was almost untouched. At least one of them was fully equipped and ready to launch.

And although the flight range of the seized warhead is estimated skeptically (literally ten kilometers), the immediate proximity of the production facilities to the Jordanian-Israeli border greatly increased the risk of an attack on border settlements and checkpoints of the Israeli army from the territory of the kingdom.

THEY BLAMED HAMAS
GID operatives are in no hurry to reveal all their cards and are very vague about the results of the raid. At the official press conference, it was stated that the conspirators had been "under surveillance" since 2021, and active measures against them began last year.

The liquidation of the "rocket factory" was the final stage of a multi-year operation. The nationality of the detainees is also not disclosed. It is only reported that most of the conspirators were Muslims, and some of them were trained in Lebanon.

However, even this fragmentary information was enough for Jordan's neighbors to draw their own conclusions. The Israeli press, which was among the first to learn of the scandal, named Hamas members as the owners of the destroyed underground factory, apparently latching onto the conspirators' Lebanese trips.

Moreover, the Israelis threw a “glove” in Amman’s face, accusing the authorities of “turning a blind eye” to the activities of emissaries of hostile forces on their territory, and the Palestinian refugees living there of preparing new attacks on the territory of the Jewish state.

However, it was mainly opposition media that made such revelations. The right-wing media in Israel, loyal to the government, preferred to present the topic in the most vague way possible and without far-reaching conclusions.

This is understandable: Jordan is still considered by the Israeli government as one of the promising places for resettlement of Gaza residents. However, Amman sees large Palestinian settlements as a hidden threat to the country's stability and is in no hurry to make a deal.

Official Tel Aviv does not want to spoil its own diplomatic game by further inflaming tensions between the royal court and the Palestinian communities.

POSSIBLE "SET-UP"
The Hamas version may be the main one, but it is far from the only one.

The Jordanians themselves are more willing to place the blame on the Muslim Brotherhood* group. True, this version comes from the lips of civil servants; law enforcement officials do not give a clear answer.

The version seems quite coherent. Especially since the representatives of the group (until recently they were a serious political force in the kingdom) have already tried several times in different ways to overthrow King Abdullah II from the throne.

And in 2020, official Amman forced the Muslim Brotherhood* to cease operations in Jordan, thereby publicly insulting them.

Egypt also agrees with the thesis about the involvement of this organization in the conspiracy. True, Cairo balances between the Israeli and Jordanian interpretations of events, recalling that Hamas also emerged at one time as a separate cell within the Brotherhood*, but over time the paths of the two forces diverged.

And with the onset of the humanitarian crisis in Gaza, friction began between yesterday's allies. Today's protests in Gaza are being stirred up, among others, by supporters of the Muslim Brotherhood*, and Hamas' counterintelligence has reported at least three arrests of the group's agents of influence in the enclave.

In this regard, Egyptian security officials consider the scandal with the rockets an attempt to frame Hamas and further complicate its position.

THE DISGRACED PRINCE
The scandal has rocked Jordanian society, becoming the biggest in recent years.

Moreover, in the official press release, the intelligence services named the goal of the foiled plot as “damaging national security, chaos and destruction within the kingdom.” So the security forces are directly saying that the target of the hypothetical missile attacks was not Israel at all.

Behind the scenes, for the first time since 2021, the name of the disgraced Prince Hamza ibn Hussein, the younger brother of the Jordanian king and heir to the throne until 2004, was heard again.

Hamza gave way in line to the king's son, Hussein ibn Abdullah, but was believed by many courtiers to have been hurt by his nephew's rapid rise.

Others also say that Hamza fears reprisals after the hypothetical death of his august brother, who has already complained several times about health problems.

It is the king's brother who is considered the main beneficiary of the failed coup of 2021. At that time, the conflict between the royals was quickly resolved, and the prince avoided public accusations of organizing the rebellion, although some of his close associates were imprisoned.

However, from that moment on, his every move has been closely monitored by Jordanian intelligence services, and he himself remains a prisoner of the “golden cage” and almost never leaves his native palace, with the exception of rare public court ceremonies.

The current emphasis in Jordanian law enforcement statements on the events of 2021 is a worrying signal for Hamza. It is possible that the scandal will be used by opponents of the disgraced prince to further push him away from the court and finally deprive him of any claims to the throne.

And here it is not so important who the Jordanian law enforcement officials declare the "owner" of the liquidated underground factory: Hamas or the Muslim Brotherhood*. If even an indirect connection with the prince is discovered, his "golden cage" may well become an iron one.
Link


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
IDF: Two Hezbollah members killed in southern Lebanon drone strikes
2025-04-17
[IsraelTimes] Hamas operatives reportedly arrested by Lebanese army in Palestinian refugee camps, amid exposure by Amman of alleged Muslim Brotherhood terror cell said to have trained in Lebanon

Two Hezbollah members were killed in separate Israeli dronezaps in southern Leb
...The Leb civil war, between 1975 and 1990, lasted a little over 145 years and produced 120,000 fatalities. The average length of a ceasefire was measured in seconds. Only one of those statements is an exaggeration....
 on Wednesday, the military said.

The first strike, in southern Lebanon’s Qantara, some seven kilometers from the Israeli border, eliminated a member of Hezbollah’s elite Radwan force, the Israel Defense Forces said.

The second strike targeted another operative in the town of Hanine, some five kilometers from the border.

Lebanon’s health ministry reported that one person was killed in the strike on a vehicle in the area of Wadi al-Hujair, near Qantara, and a second was killed in Hanine.

The IDF also said Wednesday that it had struck the Hezbollah infrastructure in southern Lebanon overnight. Lebanese media had reported a series of strikes near the town of Ramyeh, close to the Israeli border.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco...
 Lebanon’s health ministry reported Wednesday that a 17-year-old had succumbed to wounds sustained the previous day in an Israeli Arclight airstrike
...KABOOM!...
 on south Lebanon’s Aitaroun. The death brought the toll of that strike to two, after the IDF said a commander in Hezbollah’s special operations unit was killed in the strike.

Under the terms of a November 27 ceasefire, which ended more than 13 months of war, Hezbollah was required to vacate southern Lebanon, while Israel was permitted to act against what it deemed to be imminent threats from the terror group. Israel, which was required to withdraw its forces from southern Lebanon, has held on to five areas it described as strategic.

The war was sparked when Hezbollah, unprovoked, began launching near-daily attacks on northern Israel on October 8, 2023 — a day after Hamas
..the braying voice of Islamic Resistance®,...
 stormed southern Israel to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages, sparking the war in Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
. Israel invaded Lebanon in September in a bid to stop Hezbollah’s attacks, which had displaced some 60,000 northerners.

Hezbollah, whose leadership was decimated in the war, has since lost ground in Lebanon’s domestic politics. In January, the terror group acquiesced to the election of US- and Saudi-backed Lebanese President Joseph Aoun after a two-year vacancy in the post.

Aoun, formerly the commander of Lebanon’s army, has vowed to uphold a state monopoly on arms — a thinly veiled threat to Hezbollah’s extensive arsenal. In an interview published Tuesday by Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i-owned outlet The New Arab, Aoun said he would directly coordinate with Hezbollah to achieve that goal in 2025.

LEBANESE ARMY ARRESTS HAMAS OPERATIVES
Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco...
 the Saudi al-Hadath news outlet reported Tuesday that the Lebanese army had arrested Hamas operatives in Ain al-Hilweh and Nahr al-Bared, Paleostinian refugee camps situated, respectively, in north and south Lebanon.

The report, which was not immediately confirmed by the Lebanese army, said that a senior Hamas official had requested a meeting with the head of Lebanon’s military intelligence.

The reason for the arrest was unclear. It came after Jordan’s King Abdullah II on Tuesday spoke with Aoun about an alleged yearslong plot by Jordanian members of the Moslem Brüderbund — a Hamas ally and Jordan’s largest opposition group — to attack the Hashemite Kingdom with self-made rockets and drones.

Amman, which on Tuesday announced the arrest of 16 suspects in the case, said they had received training and funding in Lebanon.
An Nahar reports from Lebanon:
Lebanese Army intelligence agents arrested Hamas members at the Ain el-Helweh, Tyre and Nahr al-Bared camps in connection with the plot unveiled in Jordan, military sources told Al-Arabiya’s Al-Hadath channel on Wednesday.

“The Lebanese Army will not allow any involvement in sabotage in Jordan or any Arab country,” the sources said.

“The Lebanese Army will not allow any tampering with the security of the Lebanese south,” the sources added, noting that “a Hamas leader has requested an appointment from the army’s Intelligence Directorate.”

Jordan's intelligence service on Tuesday announced the arrests of 16 people for allegedly planning to target national security and sow "chaos."

Authorities said the suspects were arrested for "manufacturing rockets using local tools as well as tools imported for illegal purposes, possession of explosives and firearms, concealing a rocket ready to be deployed, planning to manufacture drones, and recruiting and training operatives in Jordan as well as training them abroad." Jordanian officials later said that some of the suspects hd received training in Lebanon.

Jordan’s government said the accused have political affiliations and belong to what it called “unlicensed groups,” referring to the Muslim Brotherhood. Jordan’s judiciary dissolved the Muslim Brotherhood in 2020.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hamas issues worldwide 'call to arms' to fight Trump's plan to relocate two million Gazans
2025-04-01
Goody. Happy hunting, IDF!
[Daily Mail, where America gets its news] A senior Hamas leader has called for supporters worldwide to pick up weapons and fight Donald Trump's plan to relocate Gazans to neighbouring countries.

'In the face of this sinister plan - one that combines massacres with starvation - anyone who can bear arms, anywhere in the world, must take action,' Sami Abu Zuhri said in a statement on Monday.

'Do not withhold an explosive, a bullet, a knife, or a stone. Let everyone break their silence.'

Abu Zuhri's call comes a day after Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu offered to let Hamas leaders leave Gaza but demanded that the Palestinian group disarm in the final stages of the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu said Israel was working towards a plan proposed by Trump to displace Gazans to other countries, which could include Egypt and Jordan.

Netanyahu said that after the war, Israel would ensure overall security in Gaza and 'enable the implementation of the Trump plan' - which had initially called for the mass displacement of all 2.4 million people living in the Palestinian territory - calling it a 'voluntary migration plan'.

Trump's plan for the region risks inflaming deep underlying tensions, and has been met with fury from Palestinians and American allies alike. The UN has warned it was tantamount to 'ethnic cleansing'.

But the call from Hamas comes at an uncertain time, with thousands of Gazans defying fear of reprisal to march against the group in anti-war demonstrations.

One protestor was this week alleged to have been kidnapped, tortured and left at his family's doorstep as a warning.

Days after taking office in January, Trump had proposed that Gazans be removed from the territory with no right of return.

He later appeared to backtrack, saying he was 'not forcing' the widely condemned plan for the United States to take over the territory and redevelop it.

Trump said that the U.S. should take control of Gaza to ensure its stability, and suggested the population could be relocated elsewhere, where he said they would be 'better off'.

'The Gaza Strip would be turned over to the US by Israel at the conclusion of fighting' he said.

On February 9, the American president said he was 'committed to buying and owning Gaza'.

Two days later, he told a news conference with Jordan's King Abdullah II: 'We're not going to buy anything.'

'We're going to have it and we're going to keep it and we're going to make sure that there's going to be peace and there's not going to be any problem.'

An AI-generated clip of 'Trump Gaza', redeveloped into the 'Riviera of the Middle East', was then posted to his Truth Social social media platform, met with horror.

The video showed high-rises and beachside resorts, with a giant gold statue of Trump towering over the enclave.

Trump and Netanyahu featured in the AI video, drinking by a pool. The clip was widely condemned as being 'tone deaf'.

Palestinians in Gaza argued the proposal ignores their rights and ties to their ancestral land.

The right of return remains a sensitive issue for Palestinian diaspora displaced by the long conflict with Israel.

About 750,000 Palestinians fled or were forced from their homes on land which became Israel after the 1948 Arab-Israeli war.

As many as 531 Palestinian towns were razed by Israeli militias by 1949, according to the West Bank-based Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, and thousands were killed in clashes.

Many refugees today remain in camps in neighbouring countries, unable to return to the places they were born.

Outrage at the loss of life in Gaza since Hamas launched its shock October 7, 2023 incursion into Israel saw a rise in support for the group among Palestinians, reflecting anathema towards Israeli policy and lack of progress towards a lasting solution.

This was in spite of the 1,170 lives taken during the massacre, and some 250 hostages taken back into Gaza.

A group of independent human rights experts warned earlier this month that Israel had resumed weaponising starvation in Gaza with the decision to break from the fragile ceasefire agreement and block aid into the Palestinian enclave.

More than 400 Palestinians were killed as Israel resumed its bombardment of the strip on March 18. More than 50,000 Palestinians have been killed in the conflict since October 2023, the Palestinian Health Ministry in Gaza reports.

Israel warned its attacks were 'only the beginning'.

Earlier this month, defence minister Israel Katz also threatened to permanently occupy parts of the Gaza Strip unless Hamas releases the hostages still held in captivity.

Since coming to power, Hamas has done little to move towards a lasting solution with Israel, launching attacks across the border that rights groups say have killed civilians and even landed back in Gaza.

'The unpredictable nature of the crude rockets has meant that rockets have struck areas not only inside Israel but also inside Gaza,' Human Rights Watch observed in 2009.

The group has also done little to alleviate poverty in the Gaza Strip, despite receiving plenty of money from foreign backers.

In 2023, it was estimated to have an investment portfolio of real estate and other assets worth $500mn and an annual military budget of $350mn.

But Gaza remains one of the poorest places in the world. In 2023, the GDP per capita for the West Bank and Gaza sat at just $3,372.3 USD.

In recent days, Palestinians have expressed their ire towards the governing group with mass protests in the beleaguered enclave.

Thousands took to the streets in northern Gaza last weeks for days of anti-war protests, many chanting against Hamas.

The protests, which centered mainly on Gaza's north, appeared to be aimed generally against the war, with protesters calling for an end to 17 months of deadly fighting.

In the town of Beit Lahiya, where a similar protest took place Tuesday, about 3,000 people demonstrated, with many chanting 'the people want the fall of Hamas.' In the hard-hit Shijaiyah neighborhood of Gaza City, dozens of men chanted 'Out, out out! Hamas get out!'

'Our children have been killed. Our houses have been destroyed,' said Abed Radwan, who said he joined the protest in Beit Lahiya 'against the war, against Hamas, and the (Palestinian political) factions, against Israel and against the world's silence.'

Ammar Hassan, who gave his name after taking part in a protest on Tuesday, said it started as an anti-war protest with a few dozen people but swelled to more than 2,000, with people chanting against Hamas.

'It's the only party we can affect,' he said by phone. 'Protests won't stop the (Israeli) occupation, but it can affect Hamas.'

The militant group has violently cracked down on previous protests. This time no outright intervention was apparent, perhaps because Hamas is keeping a lower profile since Israel resumed its war against it.

Hamas was then accused of torturing a Palestinian protestor to death and leaving him on his family's doorstep as a warning.

Uday al-Rabbay was reportedly kidnapped by the terror group amid the swell of anti-Hamas actions taken by the people of the Gaza Strip, who have in the last week been seen begging the organisation to give up control.

Mazen Shat, a senior police officer affiliated with Fatah from Ramallah and a vocal critic of Hamas, told The Telegraph Uday had been tortured for four hours, and was left with open wounds and bruising.

'Uday was martyred by the criminals of Hamas. And what's his crime? He told the truth, because he refused to be silent on injustice, because he did not kneel to Hamas.

'Hamas is oppressing people in a brutal way. Like a puppy on a rope around his neck, they dragged him to the door of his house and told his family that this is the punishment for those who complain about Hamas.'
Related:
Sami Abu Zuhri 03/05/2025 Aiming to stymie Trump’s ‘Riviera’ vision, Arab leaders endorse $53 billion Gaza plan
Sami Abu Zuhri 03/04/2025 Egypt’s alternative to Trump plan sidelines Hamas, leaves key questions unanswered
Sami Abu Zuhri 02/12/2025 Netanyahu: ‘Intense fighting’ to resume in Gaza if hostages not released by Saturday

Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
After pledge to Trump, Jordan evacuates first group of Gazan kids for medical care
2025-03-05
[IsraelTimes] Amman says over 30 Palestinian children ‘suffering various illnesses’ have arrived in kingdom to be treated as part of ‘initiative that the king spoke about in Washington’

Jordan on Tuesday evacuated the first group of Paleostinian children in need of medical treatment from the war-battered Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 Strip under a plan the king presented to US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
 last month.

Images aired by state TV channel al-Mamlaka showed Jordanian military helicopters arriving at a military airport in Amman carrying four injured children and their families.

The children, two of them amputees, were taken to hospital upon arrival.

Government front man Mohammad Momani told a news conference that the first group "of the Gazook children suffering various illnesses began arriving."

Momani said it was the start of the "implementation of the initiative that the king spoke about in Washington."

In his White House visit last month, King Abdullah II told Trump: "One of the things that we can do right away is take 2,000 children, cancer children who are in a very ill state. That is possible."

Later on Tuesday, another 29 children accompanied by 44 adults were brought into Jordan by land, a military front man said.

Ambulances carrying them entered via the King Hussein Bridge crossing, also known as Allenby Bridge crossing, between the Israeli-controlled West Bank and Jordan.

Ahmad Shehada, 13, told AFP he was eager to "get my life back" after a serious injury.

The boy, whose father and other relatives died in the war sparked by the Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
-led terror onslaught on October 7, 2023,, said he had gone to get water when "a helicopter dropped a strange object, and it went kaboom! on us."

Shehada lost an arm and "traveled to Jordan to have a (prosthetic) limb fitted," he said.

The war has killed over 48,000 people in Gaza and left more than 100,000 maimed, according to unverified figures from the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry, which do not differentiate between fighters and non-combatants.

Israel says it has killed some 20,000 combatants in battle as of January and another 1,600 holy warriors inside Israel on October 7, during which some 1,200 people — mostly civilians — were killed and 251 kidnapped to Gaza.

Israel has said it seeks to minimize civilian fatalities and stresses that Hamas uses Gaza’s civilians as human shields, fighting from civilian areas including homes, hospitals, schools, and mosques.

Israel’s toll in the ground offensive against Hamas in Gaza and in military operations along the border with the Strip stands at 410. The toll includes a police officer killed in a hostage rescue mission and two Defense Ministry civilian contractors.
Link


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Why Arab Countries Do Not Want Gazans
2025-03-02
[AmericanThinker] For decades, Arab nations have positioned themselves as staunch supporters of the Palestinian cause, yet their actions suggest otherwise. Although they publicly denounce Israel and advocate for Palestinian rights, behind closed doors, many Arab leaders have systematically worked to prevent a permanent resolution to the Palestinian issue. Nowhere is this hypocrisy more evident than in the refusal of most Arab states — particularly Jordan — to integrate Palestinians, despite historical, demographic, and geopolitical realities that make Jordan the most viable Palestinian homeland.

Jordan is historically part of Palestine, with the majority of its population being Palestinian. Given these facts, Jordan should logically serve as the natural homeland for displaced Palestinians rather than advocating for a separate Palestinian state in the West Bank or Gaza. However, the Hashemite monarchy, which has ruled Jordan since its creation as a British protectorate, actively disenfranchises Palestinian Jordanians, maintaining them in a second-class status while simultaneously portraying itself as a champion of Palestinian rights.

Western policymakers often justify Jordan’s treatment of Palestinians by referencing the events of 1970, when King Hussein used the Pakistani army to crush an attempted PLO takeover. However, declassified White House documents suggest a different perspective. Then—U.S. secretary of State Henry Kissinger viewed the idea of Palestinian self-rule in Jordan as the chance for a solution to the Palestinian question. In a White House memo to President Nixon, Kissinger argued that a Palestinian-led government in Jordan could provide "a Palestinian settlement."

Nixon did not support the concept. This allowed King Hussein to enlist the support of Pakistan, which sent troops to Jordan and swiftly suppressed the Palestinians, killing thousands of civilians. With that, the prospect of a Palestinian state in Jordan was extinguished, paving the way for decades of failed peace initiatives based on the so-called two-state solution.

Fast-forward to today, and Jordan’s King Abdullah himself is in an alliance with Iran — yes, Iran. Unlike other Arab leaders who maintain a distance from Tehran, Abdullah has openly courted the Iranian regime, even going so far as to feature a photograph with Iran’s supreme leader in his memoir Our Last Best Chance. This relationship has been extensively documented, including by Israeli journalist Edy Cohen, who wrote in The Jerusalem Post, "It’s official: Jordan is now allies with Iran."

Beyond Iran, Abdullah has also strengthened economic ties with China, Iran’s primary military and political backer. Instead of accepting discounted Israeli liquid natural gas, he chose to take a significant loan from China to build a power station, which trapped Jordan in billions of dollars of debt to China.

Also, Abduallah is in full alliance with the radical Muslim Brotherhood in Jordan, which he uses for leverage against the disgruntled Palestinian majority. Simply put, whenever the oppressed Palestinian majority requests basic civil rights, the Jordanian Bedouin-dominated Muslim Brotherhood group launches demonstrations requesting "the right of return to Palestine" to remind Jordan’s Palestinians that "they are mere refugees in Jordan despite being citizens" and hence "should have no rights here."

This may explain why Abduallah, like most Arab rulers, is keen to sustain the Palestinian issue rather than resolve it. By keeping Palestinians in a stateless limbo, Abdullah and other Arab leaders maintain a useful political tool for extracting foreign aid and exerting leverage over the West.

The manipulation of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is not unique to Jordan. With the exception of Saudi Arabia, nearly every Arab state has benefited from prolonging the conflict. The Palestinian issue has become a convenient pretext for securing foreign aid, suppressing internal dissent, and leveraging influence in Washington. Though publicly condemning Israel, many of these regimes have secretly collaborated with Israel on security matters while ensuring that Palestinians remain in permanent refugee status to serve as a bargaining chip.
Israel have absorbed Jewish refugees from Arab World. Arabs, having 1000 times larger territory and 100 times more resources choose to put Arab refugees from the war they've started in camps and (with a lot of international assistance) make them a weapon against Israel. And then they complain that "Palestinians" are a destabilizing factor!
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Feeling heat from Trump to ‘solve’ Gaza, Arab states losing patience with PA’s Abbas
2025-02-28
[IsraelTimes] Palestinian Authority president left out of Arab leadership summit in Riyadh, where Gaza was main agenda item; diplomat says regional leaders will abandon Abbas if backed into corner

The leaders of seven Arab countries gathered for an emergency summit in Riyadh last week with rounding out a counterproposal to US President Donald Trump
...Never got invited to a P.Diddy party...
’s Gazoo
...Hellhole adjunct to Israel and Egypt's Sinai Peninsula, inhabited by Gazooks. The place was acquired in the wake of the 1967 War and then presented to Paleostinian control in 2006 by Ariel Sharon, who had entered his dotage. It is currently ruled with a rusty iron fist by Hamas with about the living conditions you'd expect. It periodically attacks the Hated Zionist Entity whenever Iran needs a ruckus created or the hard boyz get bored, getting thumped by the IDF in return. The ruling turbans then wave the bloody shirt and holler loudly about oppression and disproportionate response...
 takeover plan at the top of the agenda.

Trump, for now, is standing by his controversial proposal to "clean out" the Gaza Strip’s entire population, though his aides have indicated the idea was largely aimed at spurring Arab allies to come up with their own plan for the post-war management of the enclave that removes Hamas
..the well-beloved offspring of the Moslem Brotherhood,...
 from power.

While the Arab plan is still being finalized and no conclusions were reached in Riyadh, Arab leaders are in agreement that the Paleostinian Authority must play a role in the effort, four diplomats briefed on the gathering told The Times of Israel.

There is also consensus on another matter — that PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
...aka Abu Mazen, a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial. While no Yasser Arafat, he has his own brand of evil, just a little more lowercase....>
 is not critical, and perhaps even counterproductive, to the effort.

Accordingly, Abbas was not invited to the Riyadh meeting, according to two Arab diplomats and two European diplomats.

And not for a lack of trying. Ramallah made quiet overtures for Abbas to attend, but enough of the participating leaders expressed pushback that Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
 withheld an invitation, the four diplomats said.

FRIENDS NO MORE?
As usual, the most fervent opponent to including Abbas was United Arab Emirates President Muhammed bin Zayed, said three of the diplomats.

Abu Dhabi has long sparred with the PA president, often referred to by his nom de guerre Abu Mazen, accusing him of corruption.

But this time, bin Zayed was joined by Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
i Emir Tamim bin Hamad. Doha hosts Hamas leaders and has been fuming over Abbas’s decision to shutter Al Jazeera operations in the West Bank to protest the Qatari-backed network’s coverage of the PA crackdown on terror groups, said the first Arab diplomat.

Not only did Egypt’s President Abdel-Fatah el-Sissi also not come to Abbas’s defense, but he has refused requests by the PA president’s office for a one-on-one meeting, said the second Arab diplomat.

Cairo has been brokering talks between the PA and Hamas about establishing a temporary committee to govern Gaza after the war.

Ramallah wants control over the panel, fearing that if Gaza is managed separately from the West Bank, efforts to reunite the two territories under one governing body will be undermined.

For its part, Egypt wants the panel to be linked to the PA, but to retain independence and be run by technocrats approved by both the Authority and Hamas. Cairo argues that consensus support from Paleostinian factions is essential to the panel’s legitimacy, and also fears that Ramallah is unprepared to take major responsibility for Gaza as its grip over the West Bank slips.

Moreover, Egypt feels that too direct of a link between the Strip’s interim administrative committee and the PA will make it more likely that Israel blocks its formation.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has repeatedly ruled out the possibility of Hamas being replaced by the more moderate PA, often likening the two rival factions. The premier did, however, allow PA officials to assist in the operation of the recently reopened Rafah Crossing after pushing back on the idea for months.

Even Jordan’s King Abdullah, who is known as Abbas’s closest ally in the Arab world, did not advocate for the PA leader to attend the summit. The first Arab diplomat speaking to The Times of Israel said the Hashemite leader has privately expressed frustration over what he views as Abbas’s failure to quickly and adequately adapt to the changes taking place in both the region and Washington.

The Jordanian foreign ministry did not respond to a request for comment.

’IMPOSSIBLE TO SATISFY MOST OF THEM ANYWAY’
While the first European diplomat accepted some of the criticism against Abbas, the official argued that other Arab contentions against the PA leader were off the mark.

"There’s a lot of criticism about Abbas’s corruption coming from a group that isn’t all necessarily squeaky-clean or democratically elected," said the diplomat.

"Egypt, the UAE, Saudi Arabia and Qatar are all pulling Abu Mazen in different directions in terms of how they want the PA to run, as they each have different interests and are jockeying for influence," the first EU diplomat continued.

"In the meantime, Abu Mazen is pleasing none of them, but it would’ve been impossible to satisfy most of them anyway."

Nevertheless, the EU itself is not completely satisfied with Abbas. The diplomat said Abbas’s office did not coordinate his announcement earlier this month to reform the PA’s welfare system so that Paleostinian prisoners in Israeli jails, those maimed in festivities with Israel, and the families of slain attackers will receive stipends based on their financial status like all other Paleostinians, ending the previous system that rewarded those who received higher prison sentences.

The EU, for years, pushed Abbas to end the PA’s so-called "pay-to-slay" system, and Ramallah hopes that Brussels will help bankroll the new welfare payments now that they are being regulated.

But Abbas’s decision to remove the welfare program from government control and instead create an independent body headed by one of his close allies — former PA social affairs minister Ahmad Majdalani — reduces the chances that the EU will be able to provide financial support for the program, the second European diplomat said.

"We would’ve explained this had we been kept better in the loop, but we learned about the decree in the media," the official added.

Meanwhile,
...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin...
 Ramallah’s ties with the Trump administration have been very limited, reflecting the extent of Washington’s interest in the increasingly fragile situation in the West Bank, where Paleostinian gangs remain undeterred by the PA and Israel, and IDF operations to quash them have flattened refugee camps to Gaza levels of destruction, the diplomat stated.

ARABS FEELING BACKED INTO A CORNER
Nearly a week has passed since the Riyadh summit, and Abbas’s office has not publicized a single call from any of the Arab participants.

In the meantime, the regional leaders are gearing up for a more consequential summit in Cairo next week, where Egypt is expected to present the Arab plan for Gaza. Abbas is slated to be invited and attend this more public-facing gathering.

The first Arab diplomat said Arab leaders feel like they are in an impossible position, given the US demand that they "solve Gaza" by removing Hamas, even though Israel failed to do so after 15-plus months of war.

Stripping the terror group of its governing powers is seen as realistic, so long as its non-militant civil servants can be folded into the new system, the first Arab diplomat said.

Coaxing Hamas to give up its weapons is another story, and particularly "fantastical" absent a grinding of the peace processor that Israel continues to reject, the diplomat further said.

"The Arab leaders are really feeling the pressure from Washington, and for the first time, I see growing willingness to abandon Abu Mazen if [Arab leaders] think it’ll save them from the Trump administration," said the second EU diplomat.

"Egypt and Jordan view the Trump plan is an existential threat, so if they have to offer something far-reaching, such as a completely different PA, they might do so."

The diplomat clarified that such a move would come with massive risks, as the next Paleostinian leader after Abbas might not be as committed to nonviolence as the nearly 90-year-old PA leader has been.

The diplomat argued that Abbas is aware of regional discontent and as a result, recently took the unforeseen step of forcing longtime ally Hussein al-Sheikh to resign from his post as PA civil affairs minister.

The move is aimed at demonstrating that Abbas recognizes he cannot continue to rely on the same small group of loyalists, the diplomat said. However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
 Sheikh will remain in the powerful post of Paleostine Liberation Organization Executive Committee secretary-general, so it’s unclear whether his resignation amounts to a strategic shift by the PA leader, who also controls the PLO.
Link


International-UN-NGOs
Arab plan for Gaza could involve up to $20 billion regional contribution
2025-02-19
A bit Underwear Gnomes for my taste, but this falls under the President’s area of expertise, so he will no doubt derive immense amusement over whatever they’re coming up with.
[IsraelTimes] Financial support from Arab and Gulf states toward reconstruction of the torn enclave could bring Trump around to their alternative plan

Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi is expected to travel to Riyadh on Thursday, two cuss an Arab plan for oppression and disproportionate response...
 that may include up to $20 billion from the region for reconstruction.

A $20 billion contribution from Arab and Gulf states toward the fund, cited by two sources as being a likely figure, may be a good incentive for Trump to accept the plan, Emirati academic Abdulkhaleq Abdullah said. “Trump is transactional so $20 billion would resonate well with him,” Abdullah said.
Arab states are expected to discuss a post-war plan for Gaza to counter US President Donald Trump
...The cad! Twice caught beating wimmin!...
’s recent proposal to redevelop the strip under US control and permanently displace Paleostinians, a prospect that has angered regional leaders while being welcomed by Israel, although it has insisted that any relocation of Paleostinians would be voluntary.

Saudi Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula, largely made up of sand and oil rigs. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual haj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. Formerly dictatorial and steeped in Olde Tyme Religion, deferring to Salafist holy men on all issues, it has now done a 180 and is making a serious effort to modernize, so as not to be left in the sand by its Gulf Arab neighbors. The holy men have been shoved to the background and the nation is now still dictatorial but somewhat rational. That doesn't make them trustworthy, but it's a start...
, Egypt, Jordan, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar
...an emirate on the east coast of the Arabian Peninsula. It sits on some really productive gas and oil deposits, which produces the highest per capita income in the world. They piss it all away on religion, financing the Moslem Brotherhood and several al-Qaeda affiliates. Home of nutbag holy manYusuf al-Qaradawi...
are set to review and discuss the Arab plan before it is presented at a scheduled Arab summit that is slated to take place in Cairo on March 4, four sources with knowledge of the matter said.

On Friday, a gathering of Arab state leaders, including Jordan, Egypt, the UAE and Qatar, was expected in Saudi Arabia, which is spearheading Arab efforts against Trump’s plan, although some sources said the date had not been confirmed yet.

Arab states were dismayed by Trump’s plan to “clean out” Palestinians from Gaza and resettle most of them in Jordan and Egypt to create a “Riviera of the Middle East.” The idea was immediately rejected by Cairo and Amman and seen in most of the region as deeply destabilizing, with rights groups saying that it would amount to forced expulsion, a potential war crime.

The Arab proposal, mostly based on an Egyptian plan, involves forming a national Palestinian committee to govern Gaza without Hamas involvement and international participation in reconstruction without displacing Palestinians abroad. The committee would also not be aligned with the Palestinian Authority, according to Egyptian officials involved in the efforts. A $20 billion contribution from Arab and Gulf states toward the fund, cited by two sources as being a likely figure, may be a good incentive for Trump to accept the plan, Emirati academic Abdulkhaleq Abdullah said.

“Trump is transactional so $20 billion would resonate well with him,” Abdullah said. “This would benefit a lot of US and Israeli companies.”

The PA’s cabinet said in a statement on Tuesday that the first phase of the plan under discussion would cost approximately $20 billion over three years.

Around a quarter million housing units have been destroyed or damaged, according to UN estimates. More than 90 percent of the roads and more than 80% of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed.
The Palestinian Authority’s estimate was matched by an assessment released by the United Nations, European Union and World Bank on Tuesday, which estimated that more than $50 billion would be required to rebuild Gaza and areas of the West Bank. The Interim Rapid Damage and Needs Assessment said that $53.2 billion is needed for recovery and reconstruction over the next ten years, with $20 billion needed in the first three.

Egyptian sources told Rooters that discussions are still underway as to the size of the financial The plan sees reconstruction taking place over a three-year timeframe, sources said.
Compare to President Trump’s estimate of 10-15 years. I know who I believe, though that may be the difference between Firet World construction and Third World…
“My conversations with Arab leaders, most recently King Abdullah [of Jordan], have convinced me they have a really realistic appraisal of what their role should be,” US Senator Richard Blumenthal told reporters in Tel Aviv during a visit to Israel on Monday.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said Israel was waiting to evaluate the plan as it comes together but warned that any plan in which Hamas continued to have a presence in Gaza was not acceptable.

“When we hear it, we will know how to address it,” he said.

The 16 months of war in the Gaza Strip, sparked by the Hamas-led invasion and massacre in southern Israel on October 7, 2023, has devastated the Paleostinian enclave.

Around a quarter million housing units have been destroyed or damaged, according to UN estimates. More than 90 percent of the roads and more than 80% of health facilities have been damaged or destroyed. Damage to infrastructure has been estimated at some $30 billion, along with an estimated $16 billion in damage to housing.
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