Day: 12 November 2023

An official of the Jordanian Armed Forces said a Royal Air Force plane Saturday dropped urgent medical aid for the second time using parachutes to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza. The drop operation came in cooperation with the United Arab Emirates (UAE) and Qatar to enhance the hospital’s capabilities and increase the ability of medical personnel to provide health and treatment services to Palestinians in Gaza. The Armed Forces confirm that the hospital continues to operate despite the difficult conditions the hospital is suffering from amid ongoing Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip.
Source: Jordan News Agency

Lower House Agriculture and Labor Committees held a joint meeting on Sunday, to discuss recruitment of expat workers to Jordan’s agricultural sector, in the presence of Minister of Labor, Nadia Rawabdeh. Speaking at the dialogue, Rawabdeh said there are currently 55,750 valid agricultural work permits, as the agricultural sector’s share stands at 35,000, according to 2021 official figures. Ministry of Labor, she noted, bars transfer of non-Jordanian workers working in the agricultural sector to any other activity, in a bid to serve the Kingdom’s agricultural sector, while expats can move freely within this business. Rawabdeh said labor and interior ministries maintain joint coordination to control violating non-Jordanian workers in the labor market, affirming no additional periods will be granted to rectify conditions of illegal expatriate workers, as was the case in the past. The minister said Jordan’s Labor Law provides equal rights for local and non-Jordanian workers, noting that Social Security Corpo
ration (SSC) requests the employer to subscribe any worker in its insurance services. Additionally, she noted Agricultural Workers Law requires employers to subscribe non-Jordanian workers in the insurance packages, when the number of workers stands at 3 or more. Source: Jordan News Agency

A wave of Israeli airstrikes struck several areas across Gaza, early Sunday, resulting in a harrowing toll of deaths and extensive damage to homes, medical facilities, and agricultural sites. Reports from Palestinian sources confirmed that the Israeli airstrikes targeted the United Nations Development Program’s shelter for displaced persons in Gaza City’s Nasr neighborhood, resulting in further deaths and injuries. Amidst the turmoil, medical facilities were not spared. A doctor lost his life while attending to patients at the Mahdi Hospital for childbirth in the Nasr neighborhood, further injuring displaced individuals. The affected victims within these facilities are appealing for urgent assistance and evacuation through the International Committee of the Red Cross. Educational institutions housing displaced individuals were also targeted, raising concerns about the safety and security of civilians in these areas. Additionally, attacks on key infrastructure such as the Indonesian Hospital in Beit Lahia
and the Shifa Medical Complex, accompanied by intense shelling and airstrikes, have further compounded the crisis, leading to more deaths and injuries. The situation has escalated, with continuous shelling and reports of airstrikes targeting residential buildings, agricultural lands, and other civilian structures. As a result, the humanitarian crisis is worsening, and the ongoing conflict has led to an increase in civilian deaths, with a plea from international medical organizations for an immediate halt to attacks on hospitals to aid in the treatment and rescue of the injured. The ongoing conflict, initiated since the beginning of October, has tragically resulted in over 11,100 deaths, including over 8,000 children and women, in an ongoing toll that continues to rise.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Minister of Government Communications, Dr. Muhannad Mubaidin, said the government is continuing, in accordance with the Royal directives, to maintain providing humanitarian and relief aid to people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Mubaidin, who is also the official government spokesperson, said value of aid dispatched to Gaza has so far exceeded more than JD20 million, which included relief support of medicines and grains for families in the West Bank. This relief effort, he noted, also came by dispatching four relief planes to people in Gaza and allocating JD3 million to support the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). In press statements on Sunday, Mubaidin said Jordan, in light of the region’s current circumstances, affirms internal unity of the national position and support to His Majesty King Abdullah II, who calls for mobilizing international support for a ceasefire and war on Gaza, preventing displacement of Gazans, and allowing sustainable access to humanitari
an and relief aid to Gaza. Regarding the recent arrest of some people, he noted the government emphasized, from the first day of the war on Gaza, its role in protecting freedom of expression, in accordance with law. About a million Jordanians took to streets to express their national positions and denounce war on Gaza through protests and vigils in all governorates, which exhibited a “high” level of patriotic spirit and safeguarded law and public and private property, the minister pointed out. The minister said a total of 25 people were detained by Jordan’s security departments so far for violating the law, attacking public security personnel and trespassing on public and private property. Yesterday, he noted a limited number of people, who had plans with repercussions on national security, were arrested. Additionally, he noted investigations are underway with detainees, who didn’t participate in the popular solidarity activities and sit-sins organized by Jordan’s various political players.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The general consumer price index (inflation) rose by 2.21 percent in the first 10 months of 2023, reaching 108.88 points against 106.53 for the same period in 2022. The Department of Statistics released its monthly report on Sunday, highlighting the commodity groups that contributed to the rise in inflation. The most significant increases were seen in fuel and lighting by 7.85%, dairy products and eggs by 6.24%, culture and entertainment by 5.51%, furniture, carpets, and bedding by 4.95%, and personal effects by 4.58%. In October 2023, inflation edged up by 1.36 percent, amounting to 109.78 points, compared to 108.31 for the same month last year. The monthly rise in inflation was mainly due to personal effects increasing by 7.71%, tobacco and cigarettes by 5.17%, fruits and nuts by 3.87%, rents by 3.25%, and dairy and eggs by 2.93%. Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordan Valley Authority (JVA) on Sunday removed new attacks on King Abdullah Canal (KAC) in the Al-Qarn and Abu Sido areas in the Northern Jordan Valley, as part of its campaign to preserve Jordan’s water resources. In a statement, JVA said concerned water authorities in the Northern and Central Jordan Valley removed attacks, in continuation of its crackdown to stop attacks on the KAC, aimed to illegal siphon off water and reduce losses, to secure farmers’ water rights “fairly.” The campaign successfully removed pipeline connections buried in the KAC’s lands for illegally withdrawing water to irrigate plots of land, which have no water rights, the JVA said, noting that legal measures would be taken against violators according to rules in force.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Petra Development Tourism Region Authority (PDTRA), headed by Chairman Fares Braizat, held a consultative meeting with a number of investors in the tourism sector in the city of Petra. Braizat said that the meeting was to learn about and solve the problems investors in the tourism sector in Petra face, in addition to diversifying and developing existing investments to prolong tourists’ stay in Petra. He pointed out the importance of preserving the archaeological site and promoting it as a unique world heritage site and a global tourist destination, increasing the contribution of the tourism sector to the Kingdom’s gross domestic product, diversifying sources of income and supporting the national economy. He stressed during the meeting that the authority considers all local authorities and communities in the district as essential partners to raise the level of services provided in Petra. The meeting comes as part of a series of consultative sessions and meetings held by the Authority’s Board of Commis
sioners with various sectors in the region to develop Petra, the tourism sector in general, and the services provided to citizens and visitors alike.
Source: Jordan News Agency

The international forces operating in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) reported that one of its soldiers was shot from an “unknown source” near the borders in the south. UNIFIL spokesman Andrea Tenenti said the soldier was injured after midnight at a UNIFIL site near the village of Al Quzah in southern Lebanon, noting adding that the wounded underwent surgery and is now recovering. Tenenti added that the source of the shooting was “unknown” and that UNIFIL forces had opened an investigation into the incident, noting that any targeting near UNIFIL positions and any use to launch attacks across the Blue Line is unacceptable. Source: Jordan News Agency

18 Palestinian citizens were killed and others were injured by Israeli occupation airstrikes on homes in the areas of al-Faluja and Jabalia camp market in northern Gaza Strip, “Petra” correspondent in Gaza reported. Additionally, four citizens were killed in an Israeli air raid on the city of Deir al-Balah in the central coastal enclave, while a child was killed and two others were injured in an Israeli airstrike on a house east of Khan Yunis, south of Gaza. Source: Jordan News Agency

The Israeli army announced Sunday that two Israelis were killed and four others were seriously wounded by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon at the Doviv Israeli settlement in the Upper Galilee. The Israeli army issued a statement claiming that the missile targeted several vehicles and that the injured were in critical condition. Source: Jordan News Agency

The Department of Statistics (DoS) and the United Nations Statistics Division (UNSD) signed an agreement on Sunday to develop the capabilities of specialists in the DoS by using innovative sources, technologies, and methods. Signed by Director General of the DoS Haidar Fraihat and Chief of the Sustainable Development Goals Monitoring Section of the UNSD Yongyi Min, the agreement aims to promptly provide high-quality, classified, and certified data to policymakers, decision-makers, researchers, and all data users. The ultimate goal is to spread the benefits of this data and facilitate the development of effective strategies and policies for sustainable development. According to a statement issued Sunday, Fraihat said this agreement comes at a crucial time in the DoS’s efforts to build an interactive data center, which will be in line with the global trend of using cost-effective and efficient methods to collect, analyze, and distribute data to a large number of users. The department is committed to strengt
hening cooperation with all relevant parties. As part of this commitment, the department has signed several memoranda of understanding with the most influential stakeholders involved in developing an integrated statistical system, added Fraihat. This agreement serves as an introduction to a four-day workshop, which includes technical meetings with the department and other partner institutions, to develop an appropriate work plan for the project. During the opening of a relevant workshop with the United Nations team, Yongyi explained the importance of this agreement in support of the DoS, which enhances bilateral cooperation, activates mutual benefit, and defines the relevant future stages and plans. Source: Jordan News Agency