“Canada is pleased to assist Jordan in meeting this challenge. Today, I am pleased to announce we are making available more than $13 million in bilateral aid to help Jordan deal with the immediate and pressing humanitarian and security needs brought on by the Syria crisis,” Foreign Affairs minister said in a statement.

“Jordan has consistently demonstrated a leadership role in the pursuit of a just and lasting peace in the Middle East, and it continues to lead in the face of the ongoing crisis in Syria. Jordan’s generosity in hosting an influx of Syrian refugees is a model for all. Some 2,000 desperate Syrians arrive in Jordan daily. Accepting them is not without sacrifice or risk domestically. It is done in the finest tradition of promoting human dignity,” he added.

Canada had previously already given Jordan $11.5 million to help with the influx.

Thousands of refugees have poured into Jordan during the past two years, exerting further pressure on Jordan’s already weak economy.

Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister John Baird made the announcement from Amman, where he met with Jordanian officials to discuss the two countries’ strong bilateral relationship, and ways to strengthen it further.  They also discussed the crisis raging in neighbouring Syria, and Jordan’s important contribution to the humanitarian response.

“Canada’s close and important relationship with Jordan is further enhanced by today’s inauguration of Canada’s new embassy building here in Amman. It was an honour to be able to do this alongside my Jordanian counterpart, Nasser Judeh. He is a dear friend and a true partner in this region.

Baird is on a 12-day tour of the Middle East, which will also include stops in Qatar, Bahrain and Israel.

“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.

The new government, the smallest in Jordan in more than four decades, is comprised of four ministers from Ensour’s outgoing government who stayed on. The Cabinet also includes nine first-time ministers, and five who have served in previous governments.

The Cabinet also includes one woman, Reem Abu Hassan, a women’s rights activist who will serve as Social Development minister, according to Jordan times.

The four holdovers include Foreign Affairs Minister Nasser Judeh, Minister of Industry and Trade Hatem Halawani, Minister of Public Sector Development Ekhlaif Khawaldeh, and Minister of Labor and Transportation Nidal Qatamin.

Jordan’s parliament voted earlier this month for the monarchy’s caretaker prime minister to form a new cabinet, the first time in the country’s history that head of government is decided by the legislature rather than the king. The task was previously the king’s prerogative.

Abdullah Ensour, was selected as part of a reform program prompted by recent uprisings in the Arab world.

Abdullah has vowed a gradual transfer of some of his powers to parliament.

The Cabinet must still win a parliamentary vote of confidence, according to AP.

Jordan’s  suffers a financial crisis which has been deepened by a decline in Gulf aid and  by a flood of refugees from the two-year-old civil war in neighbouring Syria.

A diplomatic source, speaking on condition of anonymity told the French news agency that the two heads discussed ways to renew peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinians.

The Prime Minister’s office did not confirm or deny the report.

Netanyahu’s visit to Jordan, comes a week after violence and protests against Israel in the West Bank were set off, sparked by the death of Jaradat, 30. The PA blamed Israel, saying Jaradat was tortured to death.

The last meeting between the two reportedly took place in a few months ago, when Netanyahu traveled to Amman to discuss Syria’s stockpiles of chemical weapons.

Direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority have been frozen since 2010, over Israel’s illegal settlement activities.

The Palestinians demand a settlement freeze as a precondition for talks, while Israel has called for immediate talks with no preconditions.

The latest talks between Netanyahu and Abdullah come ahead of an expected visit by US President Barack Obama.

It will be Obama’s first visit to Israel since taking office in January 2009.

The Tel Aviv regime has increased its illegal settlement expansion following an upgrade of Palestine’s status at the UN to a non-member observer state in November.

The Israeli regime plans to build more than 5,000 new settlements in East al-Quds despite objections from the international community.

Much of the international community considers the settlements illegal.

“The window for a solution is narrowing and all should be on the alert to prevent the crisis from sliding into a civil war,” the king told daily Al-Hayat.

The comes amid a report that Jordan’s trade deficit widened 34.2 percent to 3.24 billion dinars ($4.56 bln) in the first quarter of this year against the same period in 2011, due to a higher bill for imported Saudi oil and other petroleum products, official data showed on Wednesday, according to Reuters.

According to the agency, data show that Jordan’s crude oil and petroleum products import bill in the first quarter of the year surged 63.7% compared to the same period last year to 1.81 billion dinars ($2.56 billion).Energy imports were almost 35.8% of total imports, the data showed.

Due to disruptions in cheap Egyptian oil, previously covered nearly 80% of Jordan’s electricity generation, the authorities have been forced to import more expensive fuel to run power plants.

The country’s Jordanian MPs recently voted for its suspension of its civilian nuclear prgramme amid fears that it would worsen the debt situation.

Jordan is faced with a trade and budget deficit for years which has deteriorated during the last year due to political turmoil in neighbouring Syria, as it constitutes one of its biggest trade partners.

Reports quoting government and UN officials in Amman said on Tuesday Jordan is ending its open door policy for Syrians amid rising false asylum claims, according to Arabian Gazette. 

Alarmed by increasing violence in Syria, Jordanian border authorities have placed restrictions on Syrian refugees arriving through its airports and at the border shared with the restive city of Deraa.