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Will PA, Jordan seek out closer relations?

A recent meeting of Palestinian Authority and Jordanian officials could set up a path to rapprochement.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mahmud Abbas (R) meets with Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh at the Muqataa, the Palestinian Authority headquarters in the West Bank city of Ramallah on December 28, 2016.  / AFP / ABBAS MOMANI        (Photo credit should read ABBAS MOMANI/AFP/Getty Images)
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Arab-Palestinian relations are experiencing a period of rises and falls, characterized by convergence with some Arab parties and estrangement from others. This dynamic was perhaps reflected toward the end of December between Jordan and the Palestinian Authority (PA) in what could be the first steps toward a rapprochement. Following the Dec. 18 Islamic State (IS) attack on Karak, which resulted in the deaths of five Jordanian security forces, the PA expressed solidarity with Jordan. Jordanian Foreign Minister Nasser Judeh subsequently visited Ramallah Dec. 28 and met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas. It was Judeh's first visit since March 2016, though nothing had prevented him from visiting earlier.

A Palestinian official knowledgeable about Judeh’s talks with Abbas told Al-Monitor on condition of anonymity, “Judeh’s visit was focused on several issues: handing Abbas an official invitation to attend the Arab summit in Amman late in March and discussing the increasing incursions by Israeli settlers at Al-Aqsa Mosque, as well as the consequences of UN Security Council Resolution 2334 against settlements on Dec. 23 and the international peace conference in Paris in mid-January. Also at the meeting, Abbas called on Jordan to host the Palestinian National Council [PNC] session.” The PNC is scheduled to meet in March, but Jordan has yet to announce whether it will host the session.

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