Jordan has harshly denounced Israel’s “blatant aggression” against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, which it says threatens to engulf the whole region.
Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Saturday that Israel’s bombardment of the besieged territory “is not self-defense. This is a blatant aggression, the victims of which are innocent Palestinians.”
“All of us have to speak loud and clear about the catastrophe that the Israeli war is bringing, not just on Gaza, but on the region in general,” Safadi said.
Speaking to the International Institute for Strategic Studies’ Manama Dialogue summit in Bahrain, he said, “Denial of food, medicine and fuel to Gazans is a war crime and we have to call it out.”
At one point, the Jordanian diplomat clashed with US envoy Brett McGurk, who told the summit that “a release of a large number of hostages would result in a significant pause in fighting … and a massive surge of humanitarian relief.”
Salafi said in response, “Israel is taking 2.3 million Palestinians hostage.”
He also criticized the West for destroying faith in peaceful negotiation and international law by refusing to rein in Israel.
“If any other country in the world did a fragment of what Israel did, it would have sanctions imposed on it from every corner of the world.”
Salafi also ruled out the possibility of sending Arab troops to the Gaza Strip.
“There will be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. We are not going to be seen as the enemy.”
Israel waged its war on the besieged territory on October 7 after the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas carried out the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm into the occupied territories in response to the occupying regime’s intensified crimes against the Palestinian people.
A humanitarian crisis is unfolding in Gaza, as the coastal enclave has been cut off from food, medicine, electricity and fuel for almost six weeks.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, Israeli forces have so far killed 12,000 people, including 5000 children in the Gaza Strip.
