“His Majesty King Abdullah II and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed in Amman today a historic agreement, in which President Abbas reaffirmed that His Majesty King Abdullah II is the Custodian of the Holy Sites in Jerusalem, and has full right to exert all legal efforts to safeguard and preserve them, especially al-Masjid al-Aqsa,” the Palace said in a statement.

Abbas flew to Amman on Sunday at the Royal Palace to meet with king Abdallah to hold a 
session of talks regarding the latest developments.

“The agreement will help Jordan and Palestine exert all efforts to protect Jerusalem and its Holy Sites from Israeli escalatory Judaisation and aims at protecting hundreds of Waqf properties that are endowed to al-Aqsa Mosque,” the statement continued.

“It also reaffirms the historic principles upon which Jordan and Palestine are in agreement as regards Jerusalem and their common goal of defending Jerusalem together, especially at such critical time, when the city is facing dramatic challenges and daily illegal changes to its authenticity and original identity.”

Al-Aqsa Mosque is the third holiest site in Islam and is located in the Old City of Jerusalem known to Muslims as Al-Haram Al-Sharif,

But it is also Judaism’s most sacred place of worship, venerated by Jews as Temple Mount.

It is one of the most sensitive sites in Jerusalem, and clashes frequently break out between Palestinians and Israeli security forces.

srael occupied East Jerusalem in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community.

“2013 will be a decisive year for the two-State solution,” Ban said in a message delivered on his behalf to the UN Seminar on Assistance to the Palestinian People, which took place in Rome. “Failure to make tangible progress only means the continuation of suffering, violence and instability in the whole region.”

The two-day seminar, organized by the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, is the first such gathering since the General Assembly voted in November 2012 to accord Palestine non-member observer State status at the UN.

In his message, delivered by Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Ban stated that the 45-year occupation – “as demeaning to the inhabitants as it is destabilizing for the region” – must end.

“Jerusalem must emerge through negotiations as the future capital of two States. As provided in the Road Map, there should be an agreed, just, fair and realistic solution to the refugee issue. Both parties must live up to their commitment to resolving these and all other core issues, namely, territory, security, settlements and water.”

The Road Map is the internationally endorsed plan for two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side in peace and security.

The Secretary-General also noted that the meeting takes place as the Palestinian Government faces an unprecedented financial crisis that puts at risk the significant achievements in institution-building made in recent years under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas and Prime Minister Salaam Fayyad.

“We cannot afford to jeopardize this progress and the considerable investments that have been made by the international community, including the United Nations,” he said, calling on all donors, especially Arab countries, to fulfil their pledges and further increase their support.

The UN continues its support to Palestinian institution-building, and provides critical humanitarian assistance in both the West Bank and Gaza, he said. In response to continuing needs, the UN and its partners are seeking $400 million for humanitarian action this year, with a focus on food insecurity and protection.

“Currently, however, the viability of Palestinian institutions stands on political quicksand, and their future is closely linked to concrete achievements towards the two-State solution, in which Israel and Palestine live side-by-side in peace, security and mutual recognition of each other’s legitimate rights, including self-determination,” Ban stated.

“There is no substitute for negotiations towards this end, and the parties should refrain from any action that undermines prospects for their resumption.”

He also voiced dismay at Israel’s continuing settlement activity in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, all of which is illegal under international law and constitutes “ever-greater impediments” to an eventual peaceful solution.

Also of concern is the situation in Gaza, where 80 per cent of the Palestinian residents depend on humanitarian aid as a result of the Israeli blockade, which has been in place for nearly six years.

The Secretary-General also voiced deep concern, as have other UN officials this week, about the death on Saturday of Palestinian prisoner Arafat Jaradat just days after he was detained by Israeli security forces.

“An independent and transparent investigation into the circumstances of Mr. Jaradat’s death should be conducted urgently, the results of which should be made public as soon as possible,” he stated. “Similarly, a solution must be urgently found for the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli custody whose health conditions have dramatically deteriorated as a result of their prolonged hunger strike.”

Abdou Salam Diallo, Chairman of the Palestinian Rights Committee, echoed the Secretary-General’s call for an investigation into Mr. Jaradat’s death, and into prison conditions in general.

The Committee, he added, had “knocked on every door,” including of the Security Council and the International Committee of the Red Cross, advocating the speedy release of prisoners, particularly those on hunger strike, whose lives were in imminent danger.

Diallo too said that 2013 would be a “pivotal year” for the peace process and that a push by the international community was needed on multiple fronts – political, economic, legal and others – to re-launch international engagement, restart meaningful negotiations, achieve reconciliation, strengthen Palestinian institutions, and end the Gaza blockade.

The “Heads of Mission” report for 2012, obtained by the daily newspaper Haaretz and sent to EU member states’ foreign ministries at the beginning of January 2013 calls upon the EU member states to “prevent, discourage and raise awareness” concerning the “problematic implications of financial transactions and direct investments within the EU in support of the settlement activities,” Ha’aretz said.

Also, according to the report seven of the 10 recommendations deal with imposing direct or indirect sanctions by the European Union on bodies and organizations involved in construction in the settlements.

The report also condemned the Israeli government for seeking to expand the East Jerusalem neighborhoods of Har Homa, Gilo and Givat Hamatos.

Those plans are “systematic, deliberate and provocative” and aimed at preventing the Holy City from becoming the capital of two states.

Relations between Israel and the EU have deteriorated in recent months, with Europe voicing increasing discontent over Israeli plans to build new settler homes in and around annexed east Jerusalem.

Israel considers all of Jerusalem its capital and does not see construction in the eastern sector as settlement building while in the eyes of the international community settlement construction in east Jerusalem and the West Bank is a violation of international law.

In a related development, the Palestinian Authority said on Wednesday that it will sue Israel for the prison death of Arafat Jaradat, Maan news agency reported.

Jaradat, 30, died in Israel’s Megiddo prison on Saturday, a week after he was arrested and accused of throwing stones.

An autopsy showed the father of two died from extreme torture while Israel says the autopsy was inconclusive.

“The Secretary-General is following with concern developments regarding the announced plans for Israeli settlement construction in the so-called E1 area, on which he expressed his grave disappointment in his statement of 2 December,” Mr. Ban’s spokesperson said in a statement.

In the previous statement, released a few days after the E1 plans were announced as part of 3,000 proposed new units, Mr. Ban warned that the proposed settlement could completely cut off East Jerusalem from the rest of the West Bank and would represent an “almost fatal blow” to remaining chances of securing a two-State solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

“In this particularly difficult period for the region, all concerned should make serious efforts towards creating the conditions for a resumption of meaningful peace negotiations and to protect the future of the peace process, which is in danger,” Mr. Ban said through today’s statement, reiterating as well that Israeli settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.

Mr. Ban noted that recent Palestinian demonstrations in the E1 area, as well as the Israeli evacuation of the protesters, were largely non-violent.

“The Secretary-General stresses the importance for protests to continue to remain peaceful and for the right to peaceful protest to be fully respected,” the spokesperson said.

Romney said in the video that Palestinians have no interest in peace and are committed to the destruction of Israel. ”And I look at the Palestinians not wanting to see peace anyway, for political purposes, committed to the destruction and elimination of Israel, and these thorny issues, and I say, ‘There’s just no way.’”

“You move things along the best way you can. You hope for some degree of stability, but you recognize that this is going to remain an unsolved problem – and we kick the ball down the field and hope that ultimately, somehow, something will happen and resolve it,” Romney said.

Romney, who has frequently criticized Obama for damaging relations with Israel, added: “The idea of pushing on the Israelis to give something up to get the Palestinians to act is the worst idea in the world.”

In response to Romney’s remarks, the PLO’s envoy to the US Maen Areikat on Tuesday said  comments about the Palestinians showed a “complete ignorance” of the facts, according to Maan news. 

“Romney’s allegations that Palestinians are committed to the destruction of Israel are baseless given the fact that Palestinians have expressed support for the two-state solution, and repeatedly recognized Israel’s right to exist.”

Areikat added according to Maan news: “The best way the Republican nominee can help in resolving the Israeli-Palestinian conflict is by adhering to long-standing US policy regarding an acceptable solution that will lead to the end of military occupation of Palestine, peace, and security.”

At a speech in Jerusalem in July, Romney outraged Palestinians when he hailed Jerusalem as Israel’s capital.