Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas jointly advocated, on Wednesday, for sustained pressure to secure a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas conflict and ensure the safety of Palestinian civilians.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas called Wednesday for pressure to be maintained for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war and to protect Palestinian civilians.
The three leaders gathered for a summit in the city of Aqaba, on Jordan’s Red Sea coast, to discuss the three-month war.
A royal palace statement issued after the meeting said that they had “reiterated the need to maintain pressure to push for ending the Israeli aggression on Gaza and protecting unarmed civilians.”
They also “highlighted the need to ensure the sustainable delivery of sufficient relief and humanitarian aid to alleviate the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza,” the statement said.
The trio “warned against attempts to re-occupy parts of Gaza or establish ‘safe zones’ in the Strip, stressing the need to enable Gazans to return to their homes,” the statement added.
They also “reaffirmed their rejection of any Israeli plans to displace Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza, urging international denouncement and rejection of these plans.”
In recent weeks, Israeli cabinet ministers, including Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, have called for the deliberate removal of Gazans from the territory and the resumption of Israeli settlement.
There is no indication this is official Israeli policy, and a draft cabinet plan for post-war Gaza rejected any place for Israeli civilians in the coastal territory. Israel withdrew from Gaza and removed its settlements in 2005.
The royal palace statement said the three leaders also agreed to “maintain coordination with Arab states and active players” to reach a peace agreement based on a two-state solution.
The summit coincided with a Middle East tour by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who met King Abdullah on Sunday in Amman and Abbas in Ramallah, the seat of the Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank, on Wednesday.
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While meeting with Abbas, Blinken said that Washington supports “tangible steps” towards the creation of a Palestinian state—a long-term goal which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s hard-right government has opposed.
Khalil Wakim, with AFP
