Day: 29 October 2023

Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met Sunday Cypriot Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombo and Belgian Foreign Minister Hadja Lahbib in separate meetings for talks to end the Israeli war on Gaza and deliver aid. Safadi stressed the need to stop the ongoing Israeli war on Gaza and the humanitarian “catastrophe” it is producing. He discussed the “need” for the international community to deliver “urgent” humanitarian aid to the besieged Strip, which the Israeli war is “turning into hell” in clear violation of international law. Safadi warned that the danger of a spillover to the war and spreading in the region is “grave.” He called for building on the resolution adopted by the UN General Assembly the day Friday, which Jordan presented in its capacity as Chairman of the Arab Group, on the necessity of stopping the raging war, protecting civilians and adhering to legal and humanitarian obligations. Safadi stressed that “only” a peace based on the two-state solution, which will establish a Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 borders with occupied Jerusalem as its capital, would guarantee security and peace for the Palestinians and Israel. Safadi added that Jordan condemns the killing of civilians and stresses the necessity of adhering to common human values, respecting the lives of civilians and the “necessity” of not targeting them regardless of their nationality or identity.

Source: Jordan News Agency

More than 200,000 housing units were damaged due to the ongoing Israeli bombing, including more than 32,000 housing units that were completely demolished. “The (Israeli) occupation targeted mosques, churches and schools,” head of the Government Information Office in Gaza, Salama Marouf, said Sunday evening in a press conference. He noted that 116 medical personnel, 18 rescue team staff, and 35 media professionals had been killed since the start of the aggression. Marouf warned the occupation against carrying out its threats to target Al-Quds and Al-Shifa Hospital.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Russian Foreign Ministry said Sunday that Hamas representatives pledged, during their visit to Moscow last week, to release 8 Russian prisoners, based on Russia’s request. “During the meeting in Moscow with representatives of the Hamas movement, we presented a list of 8 people, Russian prisoners, and they promised to respond to release them, based on Russia’s request”, Russian Deputy Foreign Minister, Mikhail Bogdanov, said during a press conference.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store said on Sunday that the Israeli army’s response in Gaza to the attack launched by Hamas was disproportionate, denouncing a catastrophic humanitarian situation. “The situation is catastrophic, and I think it clearly violates what we call the rules of war or humanitarian law,” Store told the Norwegian public radio (NRK). “The International law stipulates that the response must be proportional, and civilians must be account for, and humanitarian law is very clear on this subject, and I think that this limit has been greatly exceeded, as about half of the victims are children,” Store said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

At least 10 Palestinians were killed and others were injured due to Israeli air strike that targeted two houses in Bureij and Al-Zawaida in central Gaza. Also, 18 Palestinians were killed and others were injured due to another Israeli air strike that targeted a house near Al-Saftawi roundabout, north of Gaza. Six Palestinians were also killed in an Israeli air stike that targeted a house in the El Geneina neighborhood in Rafah, southern Gaza.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Director of the Military Media Directorate at the Jordan Armed Forces (JAF) – Arab Army, Brigadier General Mustafa Hiyari, said that the Jordanian Field Hospital staff are working diligently and competently. “There are 182 medical and nursing staff that provide humanitarian service to their brothers in Gaza, based on their national duties and national commitment, and in implementation of the royal directives that call for sustaining the work of the Jordanian Field Hospital under these circumstances,” Hiyari said Sunday evening in an interview with the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV). Hiyari added that the Jordanian Field Hospital has maintained providing service during the past two days despite cutting off communication and difficult conditions it had previously faced, especially the lack of supplies. He noted that the Royal Jordanian Air Force (RJAF) has offered all its capabilities to launch an air bridge to deliver humanitarian aid (to Gaza) in cooperation with the Jordan Hashemite Charitable Organization (JHCO), which leads the national relief efforts for the people in Gaza. He pointed out that there is a large amount of “ready for transport” materials when access to the strip is available. On the statement issued today regarding rumors, Hiyari said that these rumors were circulated despite Jordan’s official stance, His Majesty King Abdullah’s stance and efforts in supporting Palestinians, and Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah’s courage in describing the situation in the Gaza Strip. He further added that Jordanian diplomatic efforts recently succeeded in obtaining a resolution from the UN General Assembly to stop the war in the Gaza Strip. “Unfortunately…the Jordanian state, including JAF’s efforts, is being targeted by a misleading media campaign,” Hiyari said, referring to rumors on the use of RJAF bases by US aircrafts to transport equipment and weapons to the Israeli army, “aiming at stirring up strife to weaken the domestic front and divide the internal societal fabric.” He emphasized that “not a single bullet was transferred towards the Israeli army from Jordanian airports. “We rely greatly on citizens’ awareness and restrain from circulating rumors and receiving information only from its source.” He also affirmed that there are no US bases on the Jordanian soil, but there are groups working to train JAF’s staff and transfer the latest findings of military science, in addition to technical groups responsible for maintaining and modernizing JAF’s weapons and equipment. “Drones have become a threat to all our fronts as they are used for smuggling drugs, and we have asked the United States to provide us with a defense system to take them down,” Hiyari concluded.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Former Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Marwan Muasher said that Jordan has a special status and has utilized its relations with countries of the world over the past decades, and this was evident in the current crisis to stop the aggression against Gaza. Speaking Sunday evening to an interview with the Jordan Radio and Television Corporation (JRTV), Muasher said that His Majesty King Abdullah moved immediately and visited 4 European capitals during the ongoing war on Gaza and spoke with US President Joe Biden. “His Majesty King Abdullah has led relentless Jordanian efforts since the beginning of the crisis to stop the war on Gaza, and Jordan had assumed a role in the United Nations General Assembly resolution regarding the war on Gaza,” Muasher added. He mentioned Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah’s interview, through which she expressed the feelings of every Jordanian and Arab in harmony between the official and public stances, calling for uniting all official and public efforts in one track to stop the aggression. Muasher said that Arab stances towards the crisis is not as desired, and that the Arab countries that should move are not moving as they should, granting the Jordanian stance an increasing role in the current crisis. He explained that the UN General Assembly resolution clearly shows that there is a majority against the Israeli aggression on Gaza and against collective punishment against its residents. “As the aggression continues, we will witness a shift in the Western world towards what is happening (in Gaza), as some Western countries biased with Israel voted in favor of the resolution,” Muasher concluded.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Chief Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Karim Khan, urged Israel to respect international humanitarian law that protects mosques, churches, schools and hospitals. In a press conference following a visit to the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt, on Sunday, Khan affirmed Israel’s moral and legal responsibility to respect the rules of engagement, noting that no party can do whatever it wants to achieve its goals. He expressed his concern about settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, stressing that the situation in the Palestinian territories cannot be overlooked. The ICC Chief Prosecutor also underlined that innocent people in Gaza are suffering and living in a war they are not responsible for. “The Gaza Strip is witnessing crimes similar to the suffering of Ukraine, Afghanistan and Myanmar.” Her stressed that the civilians suffering in Gaza deserve justice, referring to Palestinian demands to initiate an international investigation into the bombing of a hospital in Gaza. Khan pointed out that the ICC has been working on the Palestinian cause for more than two years in an attempt to reach possible solutions. “The investigation into the situation in Palestine is very important to us.” He added that, according to the law, innocent lives must be protected and the same support must be provided to all children, regardless of their religion or nationality. Khan rejected suspending relief supplies to civilians in any way.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The UN Security Council on Monday will hold a meeting on the situation in the Middle East, especially the Palestinian cause. According to the Council’s program for Monday, the meeting will be held at 10:30 in Jordan time. The Arab countries requested the meeting to discuss the seriousness of Israel’s aggression and ground invasion of Gaza on Friday. In addition, the Security Council will hold three separate meetings in the morning on Somalia, Libya and Syria, while it will hold three separate meetings in the evening on the Sahara and Colombia in addition to Palestine.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Baghdad, Defense Minister Thabet Muhammad Al-Abbasi discussed with the Czech Ambassador, Peter Štijanek, in Iraq, bilateral relations between the two countries and ways to develop them.

Source: National Iraqi News Agency