Middle East Monitor / September 1, 2022
Jordan has revealed a plan to develop the King Hussein Border Crossing at the Allenby Bridge for Palestinian travelers from the occupied West Bank, Arab48.com has reported. Announcing the plan, Transport Minister Wajeeh Azayzeh added that flights from Israel’s Ramon Airport to Amman have been suspended stopped.
Israel has been promoting Ramon for Palestinians from the occupied territories to fly abroad, a move which would be likely to cut the number of travelling via Jordan. During a meeting between Azayzeh and his Palestinian counterpart, Asem Salem, the Jordanian official revealed his country’s plan worth JOD150 million ($211m) to develop the King Hussein crossing.
Azayzeh reiterated that Jordan is eager to remove all obstacles facing Palestinian travelers who pass through the crossing to reach Queen Aliya International Airport south of Amman. The US has been putting pressure on Israel to ease the travel of Palestinians via the Hashemite Kingdom.
The Jordanian minister revealed that the government had filed an official appeal to the International Civil Aviation Organization against the operation of Ramon Airport from the time it was established in 2019. Jordan believes that the Israeli airport violates its sovereignty as it is only 730 metres from its own King Hussein Airport on the Red Sea, and the perimeter wall is built on Jordanian land.
