Jordan announced its decision on Wednesday, November 1 to “immediately” withdraw its ambassador from Israel in protest of the military conflict initiated by Gaza’s Hamas rulers following the militant group’s attacks on October 7.
“Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi decided to immediately recall Jordan’s ambassador to Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement that condemned “the ongoing Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
Now in its 26th day, the conflict began after Hamas militants stormed over the Gaza border, killing 1,400 people, mostly civilians, Israeli officials say, and prompting a devastating military response that medics in Hamas-run Gaza say has killed more than 8,500 people, two-thirds of them women and children.
The last time Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel was in 2019.
As Israel expanded its operations and sent in ground troops on Friday, Safadi warned that it would result in “a humanitarian catastrophe of epic proportions for years to come” in a post on X, formerly Twitter.
In 1994, Jordan became the second Arab state to make peace with Israel after Egypt in 1979. Its population includes more than two million Palestinian refugees.
Since the war began, Jordan has seen several large protests in support of Gaza, with demonstrators demanding the country to annul the peace treaty with Israel and to close the Israeli embassy.
On Tuesday, US President Joe Biden spoke with Jordan’s King Abdullah II, a key US partner. They discussed “urgent mechanisms to stem violence, calm rhetoric and reduce regional tensions,” the White House said.
Biden and King Abdullah agreed that it was “critical to ensure that Palestinians are not forcibly displaced outside of Gaza,” a White House statement said.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
