Jordan king rejects idea of West Bank and Gaza being ‘separated’
King Abdullah II of Jordan is emerging as a leading figure in the Arab world holding both Israel and the US to account with his harsh criticism.
On Saturday 4th November, when meeting a number of foreign ministers of the region, he underlined his objection to separating the West Bank and Gaza Strip, stressing that both were part of the Palestinian state, according to a statement by Jordan’s Royal Hashemite Court.
Despite being an ally of Israel and the West, Jordan is also its fiercest critic. Previously, the King said on October 21 that the Gaza operation amounted to “war crimes”
He said his country supported the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent and sovereign state along the 1967 border with East Jerusalem as its capital.
During the same meeting with Arab foreign ministers, the Jordanian monarch met with Anthony Blinken and urged him to call for a ceasefire in Gaza, a request which fell on deaf ears, before the US secretary of state left for Baghdad where officials are worried that Israel may use its weapons to retaliate after local militants there attack US forces.
The Jordanian king renewed his calls for an immediate ceasefire and delivery of aid into the besieged Gaza, where over 9,488 people have been killed by Israeli strikes – mostly women and children and more bombs – 6000 in total – have been dropped on Gaza in six days than what US forces in Afghanistan dropped in a whole year.
In the same week, Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel in protest at the continued military operations by Israel in the Gaza Strip.
Israel has also faced criticism from the leaders of Chile, Colombia and Brazil – which held the presidency of the United Nations Security Council last month.
