JERUSALEM - Jordan's King Abdullah II on Sunday declared Jordan's full sovereignty over the territory of Baqoura and inundation leased by Israel along the common border and had the right to dispose of it for 25 years under the annexes of a 1994 peace treaty.
"I announce today the termination of the annexes for the areas of immersion and Baqoura in the peace agreement and impose our full sovereignty on every inch," King Abdullah said in his speech to the throne on the occasion of the opening of the ordinary session of the National Assembly.
According to the annexes of the peace agreement signed on October 26, 1994, Israel was given the right to dispose of these lands for 25 years, which would be renewed automatically if the Jordanian government did not inform the Jewish state of its desire to reclaim these lands a year before the expiration of the term, which the Kingdom did.
Last year, King Abdullah decided to restore the lands of Baqoura, east of the junction of the Jordan and Yarmouk rivers in Irbid governorate (north), and immersion in the Wadi Araba area in Aqaba governorate (south) from Israeli custody.
The right of Israeli farmers to plant Jordanian lands in Baqoura and inundation, called Nahraim in Hebrew, ended on Sunday.
An AFP correspondent in northern Israel said on Sunday that the yellow gate leading to a bridge over the river separating the two countries was closed by Israeli farmers to enter Baqoura.
Jordan agreed during the peace negotiations to keep these border lands at the disposal of the Jewish state, with Israel's recognition of Jordan's sovereignty over them.
The Wadi Araba Treaty, signed on October 26, 1994, formally ended decades of state of war between the two countries.