Jordan's King Abdullah told U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Wednesday he welcomed the administration's move to reopen the U.S. consulate in Jerusalem, state-owned media said.
Blinken however said a bit of time would be needed to carry out the move, which he announced on Tuesday during his maiden Middle East trip to consolidate a ceasefire that ended the worst fighting in years between Israel and Palestinian militants in Gaza.
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US Secretary of State Antony Blinken (L) meets with Jordan's King Abdullah II at Bayt Al-Urdon in the Jordanian capital Amman
(Photo: AFP)
The U.S. consulate in east Jerusalem had served as a de facto embassy for the Palestinians until former President Donald Trump shuttered it in 2019.
Blinken was also quoted as saying that the Jordanian monarch, whose Hashemite dynasty has custodianship of Muslim and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem, had played an instrumental role in brokering the deal to end the 11-day fighting round.
The top U.S. diplomat further said that aid had started to arrive in the Gaza Strip as part of a drive to help reconstruction in devastated areas of the enclave, ruled by Palestinian Islamist group Hamas.
Among those pledging aid is Qatar, who announced it will provide $500 million to help rebuild Gaza.
"Qatar announces $500 million in support for the reconstruction of Gaza," Qatari Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said in a Twitter post o Wednesday.