Jordan - AL-Monitor: The Middle Eastʼs leading independent news source since 2012

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Jordan

April 29, 2025

Amman 8:52 pm

21°C

Jordanian King Abdullah II meets with Saudi Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman.

Analysis

Jordan Muslim Brotherhood ban setback for Islamists but holds risks for Amman

The populist Islamist movement had increasingly challenged the government since the start of the Gaza war.

Adam Lucente

By Adam Lucente

In New York City, reporting on regional news, militancy, climate change

In this Dec. 10, 2020, photo released by the Royal Hashemite Court, Jordan's King Abdullah II gives a speech during the inauguration of the 19th parliament's non-ordinary session, in Amman, Jordan.

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood: Here's what to know about the group

The Muslim Brotherhood, which calls for the Islamization of society, is popular throughout parts of the Arab world but has been banned by several countries in the region.

KHALIL MAZRAAWI/AFP via Getty Images

Jordan bans Muslim Brotherhood as king visits Saudi Arabia

The decision follows an alleged plot against Jordan that authorities said was linked to the Islamist organization.

A picture taken during a tour organized by the Jordanian Army shows a drone flying over an observation post along the border with Syria, on Feb. 17, 2022.

Jordan foils 'sabotage' plot involving rockets and drones, 16 arrested

Jordan said the members of the group received training in Lebanon, as Lebanese Prime Minister Nawaf Salam expressed solidarity with the kingdom.

Latest News

Israeli incursion into southern Syria kills 6 as Jordan condemns: What we know

Salah Malkawi/Getty Images

Four accused smugglers killed on Jordan-Syria border: What we know

A picture taken during a tour organized by the Jordanian Army shows soldiers patrolling along the border with Syria to prevent trafficking, on Feb. 17, 2022.

Jordan’s king hosts Sharaa amid Israeli escalation in Syria

King Abdullah and Sharaa

Analysis

As Trump’s aid freeze tests Jordan’s economic stability, can Gulf and China offer lifeline?

US President Donald Trump shakes hands with Jordanian King Abdullah II as he departs the White House, Washington, DC, Feb. 11, 2025.

Samuel Wendel

By Samuel Wendel

In Washington, DC, reporting on regional business and tech

Abeer Ayyoub

In Istanbul, reporting on Palestine

Hanna Davis

In Beirut, reporting on politics, migration, human rights

Lyse Mauvais

In Amman, reporting on humanitarian crises

A general view shows the Dome of the Rock in the compound known to Muslims as Noble Sanctuary and to Jews as Temple Mount in Jerusalem's Old City, after Israel tightened a national stay-at-home policy following the spread of coronavirus disease (COVID19), March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Ammar Awad - RC2KNF9YVQEU

Temple Mount closed to both Jews, Muslims over coronavirus

The Waqf agreed to shut down the Temple Mount to Muslims during the coronavirus crisis, in exchange for a ruling that denies Jews access to the site.

Jordanian police check the electronic passes, amid concerns over the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), at a checkpoint in Amman, Jordan April 8, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RC2D0G93LSTB

Jordan allows daytime driving as it relaxes coronavirus lockdown

Jordan is allowing people to drive their vehicles and many businesses to reopen for the first time in more than a month.

A view shows the Jewish settlement of Modiin Illit in the background and the Israeli barrier in the foreground in the village of Bilin, where a Friday anti-Israel weekly protest is held, as the area is seen empty of Palestinian demonstrators amid concerns of the spread of the coronavirus disease, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank March 20, 2020. REUTERS/Mohamad Torokman - RC2PNF9HQOZQ

Netanyahu's annexation plan can't be stopped

Annexation of the Jordan Valley is a long-standing Israeli objective, going back to Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement overlooking the Israeli settlement of Har Homa, located in an area of the Israeli-occupied West Bank, that Israel annexed to Jerusalem after the region's capture in the 1967 Middle East war, February 20, 2020. Debbie Hill/Pool via REUTERS - RC2E4F9ALPB6

Can anyone stop Netanyahu’s annexation plans?

A formidable array of figures is working in public and behind the scenes to block Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to annex West Bank lands.

Netanyahu notches up international blitz on West Bank annexation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was confident that President Donald Trump will let the Israeli government annex parts of the West Bank, as stated in the American peace plan.

A man wears a face mask amid concerns over the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as he buys vegetables in Amman, Jordan, April 12, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed - RC223G9UB4B9

Jordan eases lockdown, focuses on opening economy

Jordan ends the lockdown in Aqaba while keeping certain restrictions in place and eases curfews elsewhere as the region's first country to enforce a nationwide lockdown now seeks to gradually reopen its economy.

$SYRIA - FEBRUARY 20, 2019: A humanitarian corridor for refugees leaving the Rukban refugee camp and 55-kilometre US-controlled Al-Tanf security zone in the settlement of Jabal al-Ghurab. Syria's law enforcement authorities and military police units of the Russian Armed Forces provide security at the two humanitarian corridors, Jleb and Jabal al-Ghurab. Konstantin Machulsky/TASS (Photo by Konstantin Machulsky\TASS via Getty Images)$

‘Nobody cares about us’: Syrians stuck at Rukban camp decry lack of testing

Syrians in the Rukban camp near the Jordanian border hope the coronavirus does not reach their isolated area as they have no coronavirus test kits; they also cannot cross the border into Jordan for any other type of medical care unless they have taken such a test and have proven negative.

COVID-19 offers new opportunities for Israel-Arab relations

In secret diplomatic ties or in open posts on social media, Israel reaches out to Arab neighbors battling with the coronavirus.

United Arab Emirates

An airline employee walks through Reagan National Airport during the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak in Washington, U.S., April 5, 2020. REUTERS/Joshua Roberts - RC2KYF955PLJ

‘All hands on deck:’ Middle East embassies inundated with citizens stranded in US

Middle East embassies are overwhelmed with calls from citizens trying to return home as COVID-19 spreads in the United States.

Egypt, Jordan pay for luxury quarantine to rein in coronavirus

Hotels and resorts in Egypt have welcomed people who have to be quarantined or who want to self-isolate; in Jordan, the government paid for Jordanians to be quarantined in Dead Sea resorts to stem the spread of the coronavirus.

Jordanians cope with lockdown through humor, empathy and solidarity

Despite economic hardships and the lockdown imposed to curtail the spread of the coronavirus, Jordanians are coming together to help the needy while also turning to jokes to cope with this exceptional situation.

March 27 Israeli Ambassador to Costa Rica Amir Ofek.jpg

Foreign Ministry rescues Israelis stranded abroad during pandemic

The Israeli Foreign Ministry, after being sidelined for years by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sees its vital role recognized as diplomats bring back young Israelis stranded abroad during the coronavirus crisis.