Jordan's King Abdullah has said that a generation of orphans has been created by the war in Gaza – while warning of the "catastrophic repercussions" if a ceasefire is not agreed.
King Abdullah made the remarks to US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who is on tour of the Middle East, his fourth such trip in the last three months. King Abdullah said that given America’s influence with Israel, it has an important role in bringing pressure for an immediate ceasefire, the protection of civilians and to guarantee greater delivery of humanitarian aid.
Israel has vowed to eradicate Hamas in the wake of an attack inside Israel on 7 October that killed 1,200 people and saw another 240 taken hostage. It has bombarding Gaza with airstrikes for the last three months, alongside weeks of ground operations and a blockade that has left supplies of food, water, fuel and medicine running low. Health officials in the Hamas-run strip say more than 23,000 people have been killed, while 85 per cent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been forced from their homes.
The king made clear to Mr Blinken "the catastrophic repercussions of continuation of the aggression against Gaza" by Israel while underlining the "necessity of ending the tragic humanitarian crisis," a statement from the royal place said.
Following the meeting with Mr Blinken on Sunday, King Abdullah called again for an end to Israel's "brutal" war in Gaza during a visit to Rwanda on Monday. In remarks at the Kigali Genocide Memorial in Rwanda, where the monarch spoke of "unspeakable crimes" during that African conflict, King Abdullah said a lesson to be drawn was that Israel's "indiscriminate aggression" in Gaza would never guarantee its security.
"More children have died in Gaza than in all other conflicts around the world this past year. Of those who have survived, many have lost one or both parents, an entire generation of orphans," he said.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II in Rwanda on Monday— (Royal Hashemite Court via Reuters)
"How can indiscriminate aggression and shelling bring peace? How can they guarantee security, when they are build on hatred?," Abdullah said of Israel's war against Hamas.
International pressure has been growing on the US to push Israel into ending its war. Medics, patients and displaced people fled from the main hospital in central Gaza, Al-Aqsa, as the fighting drew close on Monday. Losing the facility would be another major blow to a health system shattered by three months of war. Aid groups have withdrawn from the Hospital in Deir al-Balah in recent days, saying it was too dangerous. That spread panic among people sheltering there, causing many to join the hundreds of thousands who have fled to the south of the besieged territory.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, centre, and Crown Prince Hussein, centre right, meet with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, centre left— (Royal Hashemite Court via Reuters)
King Abdullah, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, has been clear for the the need for a two-state solution to the Israel-Palestinian question and has underlined Jordan's "total rejection" of any forced displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the occupied West Bank. Such a move has been suggested by hardline ministers in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's coalition government. Mr Blinken said before talks in the UAE and Saudi Arabia on Monday that "Palestinian civilians must be able to return home as soon as conditions allow … They cannot, they must not be pressed to leave Gaza."
Other priorities for Mr Blinken's trip include trying to ensure Israel's war with Hamas does not spread into a regional conflict, meeting with the EU's top diplomat, Josep Borrell in Saudi Arabia to discuss that very issue. "This is a conflict that could easily metastasize," Mr Blinken has said.
Fears have been growing of the war escalating, with an Israeli airstrike having killed an elite Hezbollah commander in southern Lebanon on Monday, the latest in an an increasing exchange of strikes along the Lebanon-Israel border. Iran-backed Hezbollah, an ally of Hamas, says its campaign aims to support Palestinians in the Gaza Strip.
Tensions spiked higher last week when a suspected Israeli strike killed deputy Hamas chief Saleh al-Arouri in Beirut's southern suburbs, an area controlled by Hezbollah.
