The Jordanian Foreign Ministry warned against any attempt to displace Palestinians from Gaza to Egypt and bring the crisis into neighboring countries, such as Egypt.
Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi stressed in a Thursday statement that the people of Gaza – especially children, elderly and women – deserve immediate action from the entire international community to protect them and provide for their needs at a time when their suffering has worsened due to the dangerous escalation since the beginning of the week and the war raging in Gaza.
According to the Oman News Agency, Safadi made phone calls to a number of his counterparts where he said that allowing the immediate delivery of food aid, water, fuel and electricity to Gaza is a moral and legal responsibility for the entire international community, and that depriving them of these basic life requirements is a clear violation of international humanitarian law, especially the Geneva Fourth Convention.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, whose schools have become shelters for Gazans fleeing the hell of war, is making unprecedented efforts on the ground to help civilians, he said, but noted that it does not have the capabilities and funding necessary to perform its duty.
He stressed that the international community should provide immediate support for the UNRWA.
Peace for both sides
Safadi said that various Arab countries in the emergency meeting of Arab foreign ministers on Wednesday, condemned the killing and targeting of civilians on both sides.
They also stressed the need to protect civilians in line with common humanitarian values, and international humanitarian law, he added, demanding the release of detained civilians and prisoners.
The international community’s stance should not discriminate on the basis of nationality or identity, he added.
Rejecting and condemning war and violence against civilians in all its forms remains a consistent position of Jordan, which has always worked and is always working for peace and stability through dialogue, Safadi stated.
According to Safadi, the Arab countries confirmed at the emergency foreign ministers’ meeting on Wednesday that they would collectively confront any attempt to displace Palestinians from their homeland.
Safadi also warned of attempts to exacerbate the dilemma of refugees, who have the right to return to their homeland and to compensation under a comprehensive solution to the conflict that addresses all final status issues, in accordance with relevant UN resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
A just and comprehensive peace settlement which fulfills the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people on the basis of the two-state solution will achieve security and stability for the Palestinians, for Israel, and for all countries and peoples of the region, Safadi explained.
He further warned of any continued deterioration of the situation, the expansion of areas of violence, and its disastrous impact on regional and international peace and security.
Everyone must think long and hard about the catastrophic repercussions of what is happening now, Safadi said, after the region and entire international community wake up to the state of destruction, suffering, misery and loss of hope that the current escalation is pushing the region towards.
