“The peace process is now at a crossroads because people are fed up with an open-ended process that does not lead to results,” Abdallah said in a joint interview with chief editors of all local newspapers.

“I think the entire world is facing a moment of truth: Either we achieve real, tangible and quick progress to resolve the conflict on the basis of the two-state solution within a comprehensive regional context which the Arab peace initiative offers, or we enter a new cycle of conflict and violence for which the whole world will pay the price,” he added.

King Abdallah warned that Israel was “playing with fire” by going ahead with unilateral actions in East Jerusalem and said “all political, legal and diplomatic options are open” for dealing with the Israeli violations.

“In all my meetings with Israeli, American and international officials, I have warned that continued attacks on Jerusalem and its holy sites will ignite the region. Jerusalem has a special place in the hearts of Palestinians, Jordanians, Arabs and Muslims,” he said.

The comments from King Abdallah, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, underscore the Jordanian leader’s frustration with recent Israeli announcements of new housing for Jews in disputed East Jerusalem, which the Palestinians claim as the capital of a future state.

The Israeli plans came just as long-stalled indirect peace talks were to begin under US mediation. The housing announcement enraged Arabs and triggered sharp condemnation from Washington and the international community.

Abdallah said that a two-state solution was the “only solution” to the crisis.

Despite intense pressure from the US and the international community, Israel has refused to budge on the plans for 1,600 new Jewish homes in East Jerusalem, insisting the holy city is Israel’s capital and not a settlement.

During Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trip this week to Washington for talks with senior US officials, Israel announced plans to further expand Jewish housing in the disputed part of Jerusalem.

Abdallah firmly rejected the plans, saying Jordan “condemns all Israeli measures to change the identity of Jerusalem and empty it of its Arab Christian and Muslim residents.” He also reiterated his rejection of the so-called “Jordan option,” an idea espoused by some Israeli hard-liners to turn Jordan into a Palestinian state. “No one can enforce such a solution and whoever speaks of such illusions is talking about an impossible scenario,” he said.

In Gaza Strip, two Palestinians were shot and wounded by Israeli forces in separate incidents on Thursday.

Muawiya Hassanein, the head of Gaza emergency services, said a day laborer was in “very critical” condition after being shot in the back near the Sufa border crossing with Israel in the southern part of the territory.

In a separate incident, Hassanein said a fisherman was wounded by fire from Israeli gunboats off Gaza’s northern coast.

The Israeli navy frequently fires warning shots to keep fishermen within a narrow zone extending five kilometers from the shore.

— With input from agencies