Jordan announced it had doubled its supply of electricity sold to the West Bank city of Jericho to 80 megawatts, helping to reduce its reliance on electricity supplied by Israel as part of a broader goal of promoting Palestinian independence.

He explained that the additional supplies were coming from a power plant in the Jordan Valley, linked to the existing Palestinian grid run by the Palestinian Authority.

Jordan and the Palestinian Authority are seeking to expand relations under temporary peace agreements signed with Israel in the 1990s, but accuse Israel of obstruction.

Palestinian Prime Minister Muhammad Shtayyeh said at the opening ceremony of the power plant, attended by his Jordanian counterpart Bishra al-Khasawn: “Jordan supports us in our strategy to gradually free ourselves from dependence imposed on us by the reality of occupation. in trade, infrastructure, water, energy and others”.

Jordan, which ruled the West Bank and East Jerusalem before Israel seized them in the 1967 Middle East war, resumed energy supplies to Jericho from the Jordan Valley about a decade ago.

Al-Khasawneh emphasized that this project reflects Jordan’s desire to help “build the foundations of an independent, fully sovereign and viable Palestinian state on the lines established on June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital and within the framework of a two-state solution.”