Italy's premier Giorgia Meloni and Jordan's King Abdullah underlined the need to re-start talks on a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian conflict which underlies the escalating Middle East conflict, Meloni's office stated after she held talks in Amman with its monarch on Friday.
Meloni and Abdullah also vowed to strengthen their cooperation on a response to the "dramatic" Syrian refugee crisis in the region, according to the statement.
"The two leaders discussed the situation in the Middle East and joint efforts for a ceasefire in Gaza and the release of Israeli hostages in line with Resolution 2735, reiterating the need for a political process leading to a two-state solution," said the statement.
At the talks, Meloni voiced Italy's appreciation for the role played by Jordan in delivering humanitarian assistance to Gaza, including within the framework of the 'Food for Gaza' initiative to ship supplies to Gaza, which is being run by the Italian government, Rome-based UN agencies World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation and the Red Cross and Red Crescent, said the statement.
The talks also covered the 'Gaza humanitarian gateway' initiative promoted by King Abdullah which aims to overcome the bottlenecks that keep slowing down the distribution of aid and strengthen humanitarian access to the besieged, blockaded and war-ravaged Palestinian coastal enclave.
Meloni agreed with the Jordanian monarch on the 'Gaza humanitarian gateway' scheme's "contents and urgency", the statement said.
"Recalling the meeting on the Syrian refugee crisis promoted by Italy on the sidelines of the MED-9 Summit on 11 October, which was attended not only by Abdullah but also by the Cypriot President Christodoulides and European Commission President von der Leyen, the two leaders agreed to continue working in close coordination to promote effective and concrete responses to this dramatic emergency," the statement concluded.
Meloni was later set to hold talks in Lebanon on Friday with her counterpart Najib Mikati and parliament speaker Nabih Berri. She is the first leader to visit the crisis-hit country since Israeli armed forces began an offensive in the south last month against Hezbollah.
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