Qasr el Yahud

Mark Rhone had stated that Hamas never operated in the West Bank, a comment criticised by sources as ignorance or intentional historical revisionism, especially given the daily violations observed in the area.

An unusual border infiltration was also reported near Qasr al-Yahud in the southern Jordan Valley, where a number of suspects were apprehended by IDF forces.

Separately, Canada has announced it intends to provide international aid totalling 100 million Canadian dollars to Palestinians.

A report from the United Nations Population Fund released last week, which is based on discussions with displaced women, alleged that Israel's military response to Hamas's October 7 attack, along with displacement and security measures, has increased the severity and frequency of gender-based violence experienced by Palestinian women in the territory.

But this location also occupies extraordinarily consequential geography.

Jordan's Al-Maktas lies on the sovereign side of the river, but directly across it is Qasr al-Yahud, which is another traditional baptismal location, but it is in the Israeli-occupied territory of the West Bank.

So this is not just a religious event, it is a geopolitical one, and it raises questions such as, this will be an event, a location for Muslims and Christians.

How will Israel allow this to go forward? What does Jordan hope to accomplish through this international pilgrimage event? in a muslim land how should we understand this importance and what is the role of the church here because as you see the catholic church is assisting in this project but palestinian christians living only miles away have endured bombardment displacement genocide attacks on their churches and local catholic institutions have failed to provide any meaningful assistance vatican diplomacy has plainly failed to secure their protection.