President Joe Biden welcomed Jordan’s King Abdullah II to the White House on Thursday for a discussion that centered on how the Hashemite Kingdom can help reduce the latest Palestinian-Israeli tensions.
Their lunch meeting came as the Israeli army on Thursday said its aircraft targeted rocket and weapons sites in the Gaza Strip in response to rockets that were fired on southern Israel by Palestinian militants. The exchange came days after Secretary of State Antony Blinken visited the region and urged both sides to de-escalate. A deadly Israeli raid in the flashpoint city of Jenin late last month set off the latest round of bloodshed, including a shooting rampage outside an East Jerusalem synagogue that left seven Israelis dead.
