Israel decided Sunday to release Jordanian parliamentarian Imad Al-Adwan, who was arrested in April on suspicion of smuggling weapons and gold through the Allenby Crossing on the Jordan River, Israel Hayom has learned.

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According to Jordanian reports, Al-Adwan attempted to smuggle in 200 guns and rifles destined for the West Bank. The Jordanian lawmaker has a history of anti-Israel rhetoric and support for Palestinian terror organizations.

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After Al-Adwan's arrest, Arab news outlets said that Jordan intervened on his behalf and mediated with Israel to secure his release. On Friday, reports said Al-Adqan met with his attorney. While under arrest, he was also visited by Jordan's Ambassador to Israel Rasan Al-Majli.

Early last week, the military court decided to extend Al-Adwan's detention by eight days.

The event is the latest cause of tension between Jerusalem and Amman, which recently criticized Israel for clashes on the Temple Mount during Ramadan and the counterterrorism operations in Judea and Samaria.

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Saudi and Iranian experts took part in a security dialogue in the Jordanian capital Amman which discussed confidence-building measures between the regional rivals, Jordan's state news agency Petra reported on Monday.

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A senior Iranian diplomat told Reuters that no Iranian official attended the session, which Petra said was hosted by the Arab Institute for Security Studies.

"What was held in Amman was not an official meeting. But of course such meetings between academics are useful to give better understanding about realities between the two neighbors," the diplomat said.

There was no immediate comment from Saudi Arabia on the security dialogue in Amman.

Riyadh and Tehran started direct talks this year with four rounds held in Iraq. Diplomacy among academics from the two countries has taken place in the past.

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The head of the Islamist Ra'am party in Israel's governing coalition met with Jordan's King Abdullah II in Amman on Tuesday, the latest sign of warming ties between the two countries.

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The meeting was held at Abbas' request and with the approval of Prime Minister Naftali Bennett.

The Jordanian Royal Palace said in a statement that Abdullah and Mansour Abbas discussed "the latest developments in the Palestinian territories and ways to advance the peace process." The king restated his commitment to a two-state solution to the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Abbas's office confirmed that he met with the Jordanian leader in Amman but provided no additional details.

According to senior Ra'am officials, the two discussed Israel-Jordan ties as well as regional issues.

Abbas and his four-seat party made history in June by becoming the first Arab party to join a ruling coalition, enabling Prime Minister Naftali Bennett to form a government and oust longtime leader Benjamin Netanyahu.

Since the inauguration of Israel's new government in June, Bennett has prioritized mending fences with neighboring Jordan. In September, President Isaac Herzog met Abdullah in the Jordanian capital less than two months after Bennett met Abdullah in secret.

The two countries signed a peace accord in 1994 and share close security ties, but recent years saw relations sour over Israeli policies toward the Palestinians and frictions at the contested Jerusalem holy site known to Jews as the Temple Mount and Muslims as the Noble Sanctuary.

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Jordan's state carrier, Royal Jordanian, will resume direct flights to Damascus for the first time in nearly a decade, in the latest step to restore extensive business ties with Syria hurt by the Syrian civil war, government officials said Tuesday.

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The decision to resume flights was part of several taken at a two-day ministerial meeting that ended on Tuesday in Amman to boost bilateral trade, investment, and transport ties.

The kingdom hopes cross-border trade and renewed transport links will help boost its debt-ridden economy, which was hurt by a steep economic contraction last year amid the pandemic.

Syria, which blames crippling Western sanctions on the plight of its economy, hopes wider business links with its southern neighbor will help it recover from the devastating impact of conflict and bring in much-needed foreign currency.

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The discovery of the ruins of old Roman baths during the construction of a major drainage system in the heart of Jordan's capital has posed a dilemma: how to preserve the country's ancient past while providing for its modern future?

A government committee set up two weeks ago is expected to decide soon on whether to expand excavations at the site or go ahead with an underground canal that would divert flood water that descends on Amman from the surrounding hills.

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Remnants of furnaces are a sign of an elaborate heating system which archaeologists believe is the first such discovery among the remains of the ancient city of Philadelphia on which Amman was built.

"We will balance the needs of the city – to protect it from flooding – to preserving antiquities under the streets," said Yazid Elayan, head of Jordan's Department of Antiquities.

"Amman was one of the biggest Roman cities and it has one of the largest baths ... Wherever one excavates in Amman, antiquities can be found," he told Reuters.

The work on the drainage system has been suspended while the decision is made.

Amman is an old city where many symbols of Roman civilization are still visible, from the amphitheater that seated 6,000 spectators to the Nymphaeum fountains and the Hercules temple on one of Amman's highest hills.

Worsening infrastructure and haphazard urban planning have plagued the sprawling city of four million people built on layers of ancient civilizations spanning the Ammonites, Moabites, Romans, Greeks and the Islamic period.

Municipality officials have already expressed concern that delaying the drainage project could raise water levels in central Amman and again flood it during the winter.

Amman has seen rapid growth in the last few decades as a result of an influx of refugees from regional turmoil that transformed it from a sleepy city to one of the Middle East's largest urban centers.

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The country's state security court ruled that the 33-year-old Khaled Abu Raya had "threatened to carry out terrorist acts," according to the report.

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Raya planned "to open fire on the embassy and its employees in a bid to kill a large number of Israelis," according to the charge sheet, which also said he was motivated by the transfer of the US embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem last year, as well as Israel's policy toward the Gaza Strip.

The court also sentenced another Jordanian, Munir Ibrahim, to three years in prison for planning to sneak into Israel and attack soldiers, according to the report.

Despite a peace treaty between the two countries, most Jordanians are hostile toward Israel.

Earlier this month, a group of Israeli deputy mayors seeking to visit Petra was reportedly stopped at the Israel-Jordan and refused entry over their religious attire.

Reprinted with permission from JNS.org.

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The officials said that King Abdullah II was going to respond favorably to the invitation and send representatives to the event on June 25-26, during which the Trump administration will introduce the economic component of its much-anticipated peace plan for Israel and the Palestinians.

Jordan on Wednesday stood by a two-state solution, exposing a rift with the U.S. as the Trump administration rallies Arab support for the peace conference.

Presidential advisers Jared Kushner and Jason Greenblatt met with Jordan's king. The official Petra news agency said that the two parties "discussed regional developments, especially efforts to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict."

The king restated his commitment to the two-state solution, with the formation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel, a position that may be at odds with President Donald Trump's "deal of the century."

The Palestinians have rejected the Trump administration's Mideast peace efforts since 2017 over its recognition of Jerusalem as Israel's capital. Last week they said they were not going to attend the Bahrain conference.

Kushner, who arrived in Amman from Morocco, has said the conference will focus on economic agreements between Israel and the Palestinians, but will not focus on political issues, such as the issue of a proposed Palestinian state.

Greenblatt and Kushner met with Morocco's King Mohammed VI on Tuesday and discussed Morocco's support for the peace conference. Moroccan officials declined to comment on Kushner's visit.

The White House confirmed Kushner was in Amman on Wednesday but gave no details.

Reliant on U.S. political and military support, it will be difficult for Jordan to reject the invitation. However, Jordan also has a large Palestinian population and it remains unclear if they will have an effect on the kingdom's decision.

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