Jordan’s King urges urgent ceasefire in Gaza
In a critical meeting on Sunday, King Abdullah II of Jordan pressed US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to advocate for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and address the humanitarian catastrophe arising from the three-month Israel-Hamas conflict.
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During a Middle East tour to mitigate the escalation of the Israel-Hamas war, Secretary of State Antony Blinken engaged in discussions with Jordan’s King Abdullah II.
The monarch emphasized the dire consequences of prolonging aggression against Gaza, highlighting the imperative to end the tragic humanitarian crisis in the region.
King Abdullah warned against the catastrophic repercussions of the ongoing conflict and stressed the pivotal role of the United States in exerting pressure for an immediate ceasefire, protecting civilians, and ensuring the delivery of medical and humanitarian aid.
Notably, Washington has faced criticism for twice exercising its veto at the UN Security Council over ceasefire calls, eliciting outrage in the Arab world.
As part of the Middle East tour, Blinken, aiming to enhance aid to besieged Gaza, visited the World Food Programme’s regional coordination warehouse near the Jordanian capital.
The situation inside the warehouse, stocked with pallets of canned food aid, was described as “catastrophic” by the senior UN official in Jordan, Sheri Ritsema-Anderson.
Blinken acknowledged the urgency of maximizing assistance to those in need and expressed commitment to working on aid distribution in the coming days.
The US official’s visit comes amidst growing concerns over the Israel-Lebanon border and regional tensions following a strike in a Beirut stronghold that killed Hamas’s deputy leader Saleh al-Aruri.
King Abdullah, advocating for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question, reaffirmed Jordan’s rejection of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The US also insists on a two-state solution, while Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and some cabinet members reject this approach.
Regional tensions escalated further with the strike in Beirut, prompting Blinken to emphasize the importance of preventing an “endless cycle of violence.”
His visit to Jordan follows stops in Turkey and Greece, with subsequent plans to travel to the Gulf emirate of Qatar and Abu Dhabi, the capital of the United Arab Emirates.
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