Abdullah II of Jordan called on the United States to put pressure on Israel to obtain an “immediate ceasefire” in Gaza on Sunday, January 7. The King of Jordan was speaking shortly after a meeting with US top diplomat Antony Blinken.
Jordan’s king urged the top United States diplomat on Sunday to push for a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and put an end to the humanitarian crisis brought by three months of war, the royal palace said.
King Abdullah II made the remarks to Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on a Middle East tour aiming to ensure that the Israel-Hamas war does not spread.
King Abdullah warned Blinken against “the catastrophic repercussions of continuation of the aggression against Gaza, underlining the necessity of ending the tragic humanitarian crisis” there, according to a statement from the royal palace.
The king reiterated “the important role of the United States in bringing pressure for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protection of civilians, and guaranteeing delivery” of medical and humanitarian aid.
Washington exercised its veto twice at the United Nations Security Council over ceasefire calls, drawing outrage in the Arab world, and Blinken bypassed Congress to rush weapons to Israel.
‘Catastrophic’
He and other US officials have, however, become increasingly vocal about the need for Israel to protect civilians in Gaza, where the Health Ministry says that 22,835 people have been killed since October 7.
Blinken, who is seeking to get more aid into besieged Gaza, visited the World Food Programme’s regional coordination warehouse near the Jordanian capital.
Inside the warehouse, stocked with pallets of canned food aid, the senior UN official in Jordan, Sheri Ritsema-Anderson, described the situation in Gaza as unlike anything she had seen during 15 years in the Middle East.
It is “catastrophic,” she told reporters.
Blinken said, “It is imperative that we maximize assistance to people in need” by getting the aid in and distributing it effectively.
King Abdullah, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, also reaffirmed the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question and underlined Jordan’s “total rejection” of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
Washington also insists on a two-state solution, something rejected by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Some of Netanyahu’s cabinet members have called for Palestinian inhabitants of Gaza to leave.
Blinken was also traveling on Sunday to the Gulf emirate of Qatar and to Abu Dhabi, capital of the United Arab Emirates.
Malo Pinatel, with AFP
