Day: 26 November 2023

Two Palestinians were killed early Sunday during confrontations with the Israeli occupation forces in Yatma village, south of the West Bank city of Nablus.

In a statement, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society (PRCD) said that both citizens sustained severe injuries from live bullets to their face and abdomen as a result of the clashes that unfolded subsequent to the occupation soldiers’ incursion into the village.

The injured Palestinians were promptly transported to the hospital, where they were later pronounced dead, the PRCD added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The UN Security Council is scheduled to hold a public meeting late Monday on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.

The UN Security Council has convened over ten times since October 7. During one of these meetings, the council adopted a resolution advocating for “humanitarian truces” and the provision of humanitarian aid to the Gaza population.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Palestinian Minister of Interior, Maj. Gen. Ziad Hab Al-Reeh, and his delegation paid a visit to the Jordanian field hospital, Nablus/1.

The hospital commander briefed the delegation on the hospital’s operations, including its clinics and medical specialties, as well as the types of medical, therapeutic, and humanitarian assistance it offers to different societal groups in light of the current situation.

The delegation toured the hospital’s various departments and facilities, expressing admiration for the hospital staff’s significant role and high mission in delivering various forms of humanitarian assistance.

The Palestinian Interior Minister expressed gratitude to His Majesty King Abdullah II for his prompt support of Palestinian national causes, particularly the provision of medical and humanitarian aid to Gaza.

Concluding the tour, the Palestinian Minister expressed appreciation for the work done by the hospital’s administrators, who provide patients with humanitarian services while carrying out thei
r honorable medical and therapeutic missions.

Since entering the field of duty as one of several military field hospitals spread throughout the West Bank and Gaza Strip, the Jordanian Field Hospital in Nablus has been operating around the clock on royal orders, receiving an estimated 800 patients so far.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Hamas reported that it had released a detainee holding Russian citizenship in response to requests from Russian President Vladimir Putin.

Since the beginning of the war on Gaza, Putin announced his rejection of the siege imposed on the enclave, the cutting of relief supplies and the targeting of Palestinian civilians.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs announced Sunday the names of 39 Palestinian children who would be released from Israeli prisons this evening as part of the prisoner swap deal between Israel and Hamas.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Hamas said Sunday they had handed over 13 Israelis, 3 Thais and a Russian to the Red Cross as part of the prisoner swap deal with Israel.

For its part, the Israeli army confirmed that the Red Cross had received the third batch of prisoners.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Director of Irbid Agriculture Directorate, Dr. Abdel Hafez Abu Orabi, said the agricultural projects implemented through decentralization plans in the northern Irbid governorate are 100% complete for the second consecutive year.

According to Abu Orabi, projects focused on water harvesting projects to preserve rainwater in wells that were built in all the governorate’s districts and villages.

In remarks to “Petra” on Sunday, he noted 610 new wells entered service to preserve and collect rainwater during this year, as part of the Agriculture Directorate’s plan for water harvesting, which is considered a “record” number, compared to previous years.

Abu Orabi noted capacity per well is 30 cubic metres, while the directorate constructed a total of about 500 rainwater collection wells during 2022.

He said Irbid’s water harvesting projects come within National Plan for Sustainable Agriculture implemented by Ministry of Agriculture.

Additionally, he pointed out Irbid’s water harvesting program aims to “optimall
y” use rainwater, especially in light of the current water challenges, as well as climate change that sees “greater” downpour for a very short period, which causes floods and loss of fresh water.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Former Prime Minister Hani Mulki said Sunday at a Jordanian Economic Forum session, “Jordan stands firmly against the forced displacement of the Palestinian people from their lands in the West Bank and Gaza.”

Mulki, the chairman of the Arab, International and Expatriates Affairs Committee in the Senate, added that Jordan announced at the start of the Israeli war on Gaza that it was against the forced displacement of Palestinians and that Jordan would see it as a declaration of war.

According to a Forum statement, Mulki said Jordan “is the safety valve for the entire Arab nation,” calling for the formation of a unified Arab awareness about Palestine.

He explained that the war on the besieged enclave differs from previous wars. “For the first time in history, Israel began to appear in its true image before the world due to the West’s loss of media exclusivity.”

He stated that global public opinion has now relied on its information from social media and not traditional media, which has posed a challenge to
Israeli “propaganda” and has shed light on the Palestinian struggle to the international community and the full facts about the rights of the Palestinian people and the “injustice they have suffered” as a result of the long years of Israeli occupation.

“What Israel did in resorting to the US to obtain support and protection was able to raise suspicions before the world about Israel’s ability to defend itself on the one hand, and on the other hand to create inevitable doubt about the ability of the Israeli entity to carry out its role in the region as a strategic and military pillar in the Middle East,” Mulki said.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Amman: A Cabinet session held Wednesday, headed by Prime Minister Dr. Bishr Khasawneh, decided to approve the mandating reasons for a draft bylaw for lowering old-age, disability, and death insurance subscriptions for workers in private sector establishments for the year 2024.

The Cabinet also greenlit the validating reasons for the draft amended bylaw for inclusion in insurance services of Social Security Corporation for the year 2024.

The two systems align with the amendments that were endorsed on the Social Security Corporation Law No. (11) of 2023, which featured some provisions, definitions and conditions related to eligible beneficiaries, as well as items to streamline procedures and address some previous loopholes.

Additionally, the Council of Ministers decided to subject all jobs in Ministry of Labor and the Department of Lands and Surveys to the provisions of Illegal Gains Law No. (21) of 2014, aimed to enhance integrity and transparency requirements.

On another level, the Cabinet approved recomm
endations of the settlement and conciliation committee, related to settling pending cases between 69 companies and taxpayers and the Income and Sales Tax Department.

Moreover, the Council approved the committee’s recommendations to reconsider pending cases between taxpayers (or violators) and Jordan Customs Department and settle 15 cases, provided these taxpayers or violators pay all the remaining dues or fees and taxes or costs within a 2- month period from issuance of this decision.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The Director General of the Jordanian Cooperative Corporation, Abdel Fattah Shalabi, and the Director of the Cooperation Development Office in Morocco, Aisha Rifai, discussed Sunday cooperation in cooperatives.

The Zoom focused on promoting the cooperative sector by expanding the membership of the Arab Cooperative Union as an umbrella for cooperatives in Arab countries.

Shalabi and Rifai discussed spreading cooperative culture and thought in Arab countries to achieve economic, social and solidarity benefits that would create job opportunities and reduce poverty.

Shalabi noted the 11th Cooperative Ministerial Conference scheduled to take place in Jordan at the end of April 2024 to bolster sustainable development goals, empower women, provide job opportunities and support regional economies.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Acting President of Jadara University, Habes Zboun, on Sunday with the French Cultural Attaché in Amman, Billy Trois, and Director of the Languages Department at the French Institute of Jordan (IFJ), Lina Qdeimat.

The meeting covered ways to bolster joint cooperation between the university and the French Cultural Mission.

Zboun praised the collaboration between Jadara University and the French Cultural Mission while highlighting the university’s advancements, programs, specializations, regional and global rankings, strategic plan, and infrastructure.

Trois, for his part, expressed his respect for Jadara University’s prominent standing among Jordanian universities with modern and distinctive specializations that satisfy the demands of the labor market.

He presented a full explanation of the work of the French Cultural Office in Amman, indicating the attaché’s willingness to provide various sorts of cultural support and cooperation with the university, most notably by supplying books and courses in French
to the language center there.

The two parties decided to expand their collaborative efforts in a number of cultural domains and to explore the prospect of housing a dedicated office for French cultural representation on Jadara University’s campus.

The two parties also agreed to help establish connections with esteemed French universities, exchange visits between professors and students, contribute to master’s and doctoral degree scholarships, and assist in securing university admissions for Jadara University delegates to pursue doctorates in a variety of specializations.

Source: Jordan News Agency

During its meeting, headed by MP Talal Ensour, the Lower House Energy Committee reviewed reality of the Kingdom’s fuel reserves and stages of oil and gas exploration in Jordan.

At the meeting held Sunday, which was attended by Minister of Energy and Mineral Resources, Dr. Saleh Kharabsheh, Ensour stressed importance of Jordan’s bid to search for alternatives and “safe and sustainable” energy sources to avoid any sudden disruption, amid the region’s current circumstances.

Ensour said: “We realize the additional challenges imposed on Jordan’s strategic plans and their sustainability. We are watching with concern the possibilities of what the Kingdom’s energy sector may be exposed to due to the gas agreement with the Israeli side. ”

He also noted Israel was prompted to halt energy production in several regions, which would have a possible impact on Jordan’s energy sector.

For his part, Kharabsheh referred to Jordan’s Energy Sector Strategy that depends on ensuring energy security, stressing success of gover
nment efforts in diversifying energy imports.

Kharabsheh said Jordan has a “safe strategic” oil reserve sufficient for about 60 days, adding that the Kingdom is prepared for any sudden disruption in the gas supply, as the ministry is making “remarkable” efforts to search for energy alternatives.

Additionally, Kharabsheh noted more than 14 memorandum of understanding (MoU) were signed in the fields of oil, mineral and energy exploration, and thousands of samples were collected within 22 months, indicating that this work requires “long” periods ranging between 10 and 14 years.

“We will put Jordan on the global mining map, as we move forward in this field as quickly as possible by entrusting the ministry’s workers carry out exploration work before attracting international companies,” according to the minister.

He added: “We have equipment and rigs searching for oil in a number of the Kingdom’s regions, especially Azraq district, at depths of up to 3,000 metres.”

The ministry, he noted, does not grant oil an
d energy exploration tenders to international companies, which lack capabilities or financial solvency, over concerns of their inability to finish or complete the operations.

He noted: “We welcome any efforts, companies, or local consortium in the various fields of energy, especially in the areas of exploration for safe energy sources.”

The minister also announced that there is no intention to lease a new vessel to store gas, when the current floating ship contract expires, indicating that tenders will soon be floated to establish a fixed facility on shore.

Source: Jordan News Agency