French president meets with Jordanian king in Mideast tour, set to move on to Egypt

By Nur Asena Erturk

ANKARA (AA) — French President Emmanuel Macron met with Jordan's King Abdullah on Wednesday before heading to Cairo as part of an ongoing tour of Middle Eastern countries.

After visiting Israel and then Palestine on Tuesday, Macron arrived in Amman early in the morning, according to media reports.

The two leaders' meeting lasted an hour and 10 minutes, the French presidency said.

Macron is then expected to go to Cairo to meet with his Egyptian counterpart, Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, the same source added.

During his visit to Israel, Macron held meetings with his Israeli counterpart Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

In a joint news conference with Netanyahu, he expressed France's support to Israel and warned Hezbollah, Iran, Tehran-backed Houthi rebels in Yemen, and other groups in the region against taking "the reckless risk of opening new fronts" in the current Middle East conflict.

Macron also announced that 30 French nationals had been killed during the conflict and vowed continued efforts for the release of hostages who are French nationals.

The French leader then met with Mahmoud Abbas, the president of the Palestinian Authority.

The conflict in Gaza, which has been under Israeli bombardment and a blockade since Oct. 7, began when the Palestinian group Hamas initiated Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, a multi-pronged surprise attack that included a barrage of rocket launches and infiltrations into Israel by land, sea and air.

It said the incursion was in retaliation for the storming of Al-Aqsa Mosque and growing violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians.

The Israeli military then launched a relentless bombardment of Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.​​​​​​​

More than 7,900 people have been killed in the conflict — 6,546 Palestinians including 2,704 children, 1,584 women — and 1,400 Israelis.