Secretary of State Antony Blinken met Sunday with Jordan ’s king and foreign minister and visited a World Food Program warehouse in Amman as he pressed ahead with an urgent Middle East diplomatic mission to prevent Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza from spreading.pital Amman.
During his meeting with Blinken, Ayman Safadi, deputy prime minister, minister of foreign affairs and expatriates in Jordan , discussed the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip and the need for an immediate halt to the aggression to ensure the protection of civilians.
Safadi also stressed the need to remove obstacles placed by Israel to block the access of adequate and sustained humanitarian and medical aid to all areas of Gaza.
He reaffirmed Jordan’s position in rejecting the displacement of Palestinians inside or outside their land, condemning it as a war crime and a dangerous escalation of the conflict.
On his fourth visit to the region in three months, Blinken stressed the need for Israel to adjust its military operations to reduce civilian casualties and significantly boost the amount of humanitarian aid reaching Gaza while highlighting the importance of preparing detailed plans for the post-conflict future of the territory, which has been decimated by intensive Israeli airstrikes and ground offensives.
He also said that he would be looking at what could be done to maximize the protection of civilians in Gaza and increase deliveries of humanitarian assistance.
Jordan and other Arab states have been highly critical of Israel’s actions and have eschewed public support for long-term planning, arguing that the fighting must end before such discussions can begin. They have been demanding an immediate cease-fire since mid-October as civilian casualties began to skyrocket. Israel has refused and the US has instead called for specified temporary “humanitarian pauses” to allow aid to get in and people to get to safety.
Blinken also toured the World Food Program’s Regional Coordination warehouse in the Jordanian capital where trucks are being packed with aid to be delivered to Gaza through both Rafah and Kerem Shalom crossings.
source: Arab News