Jordan has announced that it will not allow Israeli citizens and settlers to enter its lands of Baqoura and Ghamr as of Sunday after its agreement with Israel on leasing those areas expired.
In its peace treaty with Israel Jordan agreed to lease the lands to Israel for a 25-year renewable period with the Hashemite kingdom retaining sovereignty but this lease ends on Sunday November 10 and Jordan already decided not to renew it.
Opinion polls have repeatedly found that the peace treaty with Israel is overwhelmingly opposed by Jordanians more than half of them are of Palestinian origin.
This development has taken place following a series of events. In 2017 an Israeli embassy security guard in Amman killed two Jordanians and later Israeli premier Benjamin Netanyahu received and honored the guard.
Three years earlier an Israeli soldier at a border crossing killed a Jordanian judge with no reason.
Just last month Amman recalled its ambassador from Israel over the prolonged detention without trial of two Jordanians.
They were freed and returned to Jordan on Wednesday and Netanyahu’s office said the Jordanian ambassador would return shortly.
Earlier Netanyahu’s national security advisor Meir Ben-Shabbat had met last Monday in Amman with Jordanian foreign minister Ayman Safadi who told him there would be no extension to the Baqoura and Ghamr leases.
Safadi said during his meeting with the Israeli official that compensation would be paid to the Israeli farmers for crops remaining in the areas following the handover.
