The 7th of October was a turning point for Israel and Palestine. Since then, the conflict has decisively worsened. Considering the difficult situation and the need for intermediation, Egypt and Jordan emerged as the most important regional actors to mediate between the two factions. This is a role carved out over decades of history, especially after Israel defeated both countries during the Six-Day War in 1967, and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. Since then, Egypt and Jordan have participated in all negotiations between Israel and Hamas, especially Jordan, which has since become a solid ally of the U.S. in the Middle East.

Even though Egypt and Jordan led the pan-Arab leagues that first attacked Israel starting in 1948, when the newborn state was founded in Palestine, according to U.K. and U.N. instructions, relations between the three have been normalized for years now. The two Arab countries did not take part in any of the intifadas launched by the Palestinians and have managed to build productive security cooperation with Israel, though without developing these relations into real ties between people and cultures.

These relations are therefore dictated by the search for stability in the region and, as far as Jordan is concerned, by having a powerful common ally with Israel, the United States. Thus, following the Hamas attack on 7 October and the fierce Israeli response, Egypt and Jordan remained equidistant, calling for a ceasefire but not condemning anyone. As Reuters reports, neither country opened the door to Palestinian refugees and displaced persons.

The governments of the two countries do not want to be dragged into the conflict by their own public opinion, which would be stirred up by the presence of refugees and, most likely, fundamentalist Hamas provocateurs, exfiltrated in search of support in neighboring Arab countries. It is a tense situation that is already threatening to blow some heads off in Jordan.

There are already millions of Palestinian refugees in the country, taken in during previous crises, and this segment of the population is already putting extreme pressure on the government to take action against Israel, as reported. At the same time, Jordan must keep its ties with the United States strong and prove itself a valuable ally. For this reason, King Abdullah of Jordan is trying to work towards a rapid resolution of the conflict, to settle internal discontent, avoid further destabilization of the entire region of Palestine, and show Washington the importance of his country in the area. Queen Rania has also spoken about the need for a ceasefire to avoid further humanitarian crises.

The one in the hands of Jordan is not an easy task given the continuing and increasingly dramatic developments in the clash between Hamas fundamentalists and Israeli conservatives. The recent disaster involving a Gaza hospital, for example, caused the summit that King Abdullah had organized in Amman between the U.S. President, Joe Biden, the Egyptian leader, Abdel Fattah al Sisi, and the Palestinian leader, Mahmoud Abbas, to fail. The King was indeed forced to cancel it to avoid unrest in the country.

Diplomacy will play a fundamental role in the rapid resolution of the conflict. Egypt and especially Jordan are pivotal actors in the pursuit of this goal.