Day: 18 November 2023

26 Palestinians, mostly children, were killed after an Israeli occupation aircraft bombed several residential apartments in the city of Khan Yunis at Saturday dawn.

According to Palestinian sources, Israeli warplanes launched multiple successive raids on apartments in the Hamad Residential Town in Khan Yunis, which killed 26 Palestinians and injured dozens.

In the south of the Gaza Strip, the occupation warplanes also targeted a house for Abu Hilal family in Al-Geneina neighborhood, east of Rafah, which killed a number of citizens who were taken to Al-Najjar Hospital.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The death toll in the Gaza Strip reached 12,300 martyrs, according to the Health Ministry in Gaza.

Additionally, the death toll included 5,000 children and 3,300 women, as well as more than 30,000 injuries since the beginning of the Israeli aggression against the besieged Strip on October 7, the ministry said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Prices of 21-karat gold, the highest demand at local market, stood at JD40.20 per gramme, as a purchasing price, against JD38.50 as a selling price, an official said Saturday.

Jordan Jewelers Association’s Secretary General, Ribhy Allan, told Jordan News Agency (Petra) that the price of 24-karat and 18-karat gold amounted to JD47.40 and JD35.80, respectively.

The price of a Rashadi lira, weighing seven grammes, stood at JD285, while an English lira, which weighs eight grammes reached JD325, Allan said.

Allan explained that demand and supply for gold in the local market are “weak.”

He added that gold prices in global markets on Friday reached $1,981 per ounce.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, received a phone call on Saturday from his Dutch counterpart, Hanke Bruins Slot, in which they discussed the importance of stepping up efforts to end the war (against Gaza) and protect civilians.

Safadi emphasized the importance of Israel complying with international will, ending the raging war in Gaza and the resulting humanitarian catastrophe and suffering, and ceasing its repeated and ongoing attacks on civilians and civilian facilities, particularly hospitals and places of worship.

Safadi also emphasized the importance of providing immediate humanitarian aid to Palestinian brothers in Gaza.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Saturday condemned ongoing war crimes by the Israeli occupation army in Gaza, the latest of which was targeting displaced people at the UNRWA-run Al-Fakhoura and Tal Al-Zaatar Schools.

The ministry called it a “heinous crime and flagrant violation of international law, which was committed in the absence of an international position to stop this raging war and the suffering and humanitarian catastrophe.”

Ministry spokesman Sufyan Al-Qudah reiterated Jordan’s “strong rejection and condemnation of this act, which contravenes all human and moral values and the international humanitarian law, especially the 1949 Geneva Convention on the Protection of civilians in time of war.”

The continued absence of justice and protection for the Palestinians and ongoing grave violations of international law and international humanitarian law without prompting effective international action to stop the brutal aggression is a dangerous deterioration that must stop immediately, h
e said.

The spokesman stressed the need for concerted efforts to stop “this raging war and recurrent Israeli violations of international law and attacks on civilians, schools, hospitals, and places of worship.

He also called on the international community and world bodies, namely the UN Security Council, to take all measures to stop the tragedy and aggression.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriate Affairs, Ayman Safadi, took part in the 19th edition of the International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) Manama Dialogue 2023 on Saturday in Bahrain.

“The Israeli attack on Gaza constitutes brutal aggression, not self-defense, and if another country in the world had done part of what Israel did, sanctions would have been imposed on it from every corner of the world now,” Safadi said in a keynote speech at the dialogue.

“Nothing can justify this brutality,” Safadi emphasized.

“Israel is holding 2.3 million Palestinians hostage,” he said. 1.65 million Palestinians were displaced in Gaza, and in percentage terms, that is, about 275 million Americans. he stated.

He continued, “Israel is telling the Palestinians: We will not kill you in the north, but rather we will kill you in the south.”

“This conflict will continue to haunt the region unless its root cause, which is the occupation, is eliminated.”

“At this point, who is discussi
ng any regional projects? Who is discussing integration? It’s all about the war,” Safadi wondered.

“Arab forces will not be sent to Gaza,” Safadi emphasized, adding that he discussed this with his Arab counterparts.

He stated, “Israel places itself above the law, and preventing the entry of food, medicine, and fuel is a war crime.”

“The first priority at this point is to put an immediate stop to the war, aggression, and killing of civilians, women, and children. Next, we need to find a way to permanently end the conflict through the two-state solution. Violence will keep happening if it doesn’t,” Safadi further added.

Safadi forewarned of the conflict’s escalation. He made it clear that “there is an occupation that has not ended and no end appears on the horizon, and we will not consider any option that looks at Gaza alone.”

Safadi went on to say, “Yes to the release of the hostages, but no to linking the humanitarian truce to the release of the hostages.”

“For years, we have been warning about the lack
of a political horizon,” he said. We have always worked for peace for all.” He reiterated Jordan’s unwavering commitment to preventing the displacement of Palestinians and will stop at nothing to achieve this goal.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Director of the Ministry of Health in Gaza Strip, Dr. Munir Al-Bursh, said evacuation of Al-Shifa Medical Complex began, and patients are heading for the south, after the Israeli occupation requested the injured Palestinians be evacuated from the hospital.

The official noted five doctors remained in the complex to supervise process of coordinating exit of the injured Gazans, adding that 120 injured citizens are still inside the complex out of 650.

Meanwhile, he noted premature babies are still inside the hospital, and contact was launched with International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) in this regard.

For her part, Palestinian Health Minister Mai al-Kaila said Israel sentences patients to death by forcing them to evacuate the complex.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Bodies of 63 Palestinian martyrs arrived at Indonesia Hospital in Gaza since Saturday dawn, a medical source affirmed.

The Israeli occupation warplanes launched a series of raids near the kidney center opposite Indonesia Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip.

The Israeli occupation’s aggression against the Gaza Strip continues for the 43rd day, amid complete siege, lack of basic necessities of life, and prevention of fuel entry, which caused a humanitarian catastrophe for Gazans, especially with dysfunctional hospitals.

To date, World Health Organization (WHO) verified occurrence of 152 attacks on health facilities in the coastal enclave and 170 in the occupied West Bank, by Israeli occupation’s continued aggression and airstrikes on civilians in supposedly safe places.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Jordanian Ambassador to Palestine Issam Bdour Saturday visited the Jordanian military field hospital Nablus/1, which was newly-established under a royal directive in the Palestinian city north of the occupied West Bank.

The hospital’s commander briefed the ambassador and an embassy delegation on the nature of services and the readiness of medical and nursing staff to offer quality and professional service in various specialties.

Bdour met with the hospial’s staff, commending His Majesty King Abdullah’s honorable gesture and firm stance in providing medical and humanitarian assistance to the palestinians, and noting the noble humanitarian role of the Jordan Armed Forces- Arab Army.

He also voiced his pride in the great and distinguished efforts of the hospital’s staff in their humanitarian duty, as an embodiment of Jordan’s and the Hashemite leaderships’s stand in support of the palestinian brothers and their steadfastness on their land.

The hospital includes a full medical cadre as well as general surger
y, orthopedic, plastic, pediatric, arterial and blood vessel, maxillofacial, neurological, and accident surgery clinics, in addition to ambulance and emergency services, two operating rooms, a radiology laboratory, a pharmacy and various medical equipment.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Israeli occupation forces Saturday arrested 50 Palestinians during sweeps across the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.

The Palestinian Prisoners’ Club said in a statement that soldiers raided areas in the cities of Bethlehem, Jericho, Tubas, Nablus, Hebron, El Bireh, Ramallah, Tulkarm and Jenin, and rounded up 50 “wanted” people.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Palestinian Presidency said Saturday it was shocked the US hampered international efforts to stop Israel’s war on Gaza despite the ongoing bloody aggression, evacuations and destruction of hospitals.

“We renew our demand that the US administration assume its responsibility to stop the genocide against the Palestinian people, which killed or wounded tens of thousands of people, and halt the massacres and war crimes that the Israeli occupation authority perpetrates in front of the world in a gross violation of the international law and the international humanitarian law,” Presidency spokesman Nabil Abu Rdeineh said in a statement.

Abu Rdeineh said Israel and the US administration have only one choice to stop the war and end the occupation, adding that “the frenzied campaign across the Palestinian territories is aimed to create chaos and drag the region into endless wars that will burn everyone and no one will survive from.”

He reiterated that the aggression will not bring peace and security to anyone, b
ut rather create an uncontrollable situation across the entire region, adding that military and security solutions have proven their failure, and that the only solution is to end the occupation and recognize the right of the Palestinian people to freedom and independence in accordance with international legitimacy and international law.”

Source: Jordan News Agency

As part of the commencement of the work of the ministerial committee designated by the Arab-Islamic Summit to devise international action to halt the raging war on Gaza, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Ayman Safadi, sets out on a ministerial tour on Sunday to the capitals of several permanent members of the Security Council.

The foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Qatar, Turkey, Indonesia, Nigeria, and Palestine, as well as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States and the Secretary-General of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, comprise the ministerial committee established by the decision of the Arab Islamic Summit hosted by Saudi Arabia last week, according to the foreign ministry’s spokesperson, Sufyan Qudah. Sunday marks the start of the committee’s tour, with China serving as its initial stop.

In order to gather the required international support for the immediate and effective launch of international action to halt this raging war on Gaza and to a
ccurately portray the suffering and humanitarian catastrophe that this war is causing, exposing Israeli atrocities against Palestinian civilians as well as repeated and ongoing attacks on civilian targets, particularly places of worship and hospitals, Qudah said, the committee members will meet with senior officials and foreign ministers of the participating countries.

Source: Jordan News Agency