King Abdullah II of Jordan announced Sunday that Jordan has decided to terminate annexes of ‘Baquoura and Ghumar’ in the peace agreement signed between Jordan and the Israeli entity.

‘Baqura and Ghumar were at the top of our priorities,’ the King said in his tweet, affirming ‘our priorities in such difficult regional circumstances are protecting our interests and doing everything necessary for Jordan and the Jordanians.

‘Baqura and Ghamr are Jordanian territory and will remain Jordanian, and we exercise full sovereignty over our land,’ the King added.

Under the 1994 Wadi Araba Peace Treaty with Israel, Jordan leased Baqura and Ghumar areas, formally under Jordanian sovereignty, to Israel for a period of 25 years which was to be automatically renewed for the same period on an ongoing basis.

According to the terms of the treaty, the lease could only be annulled with one years notice. With the deadline for the lease renewal approaching on Thursday October 25, King Abdullah informed Israel of his decision to return the land to full Jordanian sovereignty thus signaling that the agreement has expired.

Baqura is a border area of six square kilometers in Jordan's northern Irbid province, while Ghumar covers four square kilometers in the southern Aqaba province. (QNA)

Related Story