Queen Rania slams “racist” Israel for Gaza starvation

Queen Consort of Jordan Rania Al Abdullah spoke with CNN’s Chief International Anchor Christiane Amanpour on March 12th, slamming Israel for the “slow motion, mass murder” of Gaza’s starving population.
The queen spoke from Jordan’s King Abdullah II Air Base in Jordan, seated in front of a series of packaged boxes of food awaiting delivery to the people of Gaza via airdrop.
“Israel has cut off everything that is required to sustain a human life,” she said. “It’s left the people of Gaza completely reliant on outside assistance” she claimed.
She added that airdrops “are us resorting to desperate measures in order to address a desperate situation,” but that the only definitive action required is an “immediate and sustained ceasefire.”
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Jordan has maintained its connection to Gaza via consistent attempts to aid its inhabitants. On November 5th, the queen’s husband King Abdullah II posted on X that Jordan’s air force personnel sent medical aid drops to a hospital in Gaza. “We will always be there for our Palestinian brethren,” he wrote.
Queen Rania referenced the UN report warning of imminent famine in Gaza, a situation that she called “shameful” and “outrageous.” “Starvation is a very slow, cruel, and painful death,” she said. “Imagine being a parent having to go through that, [witnessing] your child going through that and not being able to do anything to help.”
March 10th marked the first day of Ramadan, a celebration that the queen categorized by family gatherings and a communal breaking of fast. “But what is it like for the people of Gaza today?” she asked, adding that “we’re welcoming these holy days with very heavy hearts.”
READ: HRW: Israel uses starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza
The queen urged the need for the “International community” to “weigh in.” “We’re past the stage of trying to talk Israel into doing these things,” she said. “We need to actually start using […] political leverage to get them to do those things.”
“I think it’s no coincidence that we’re witnessing one of the most violent episodes of this conflict under one of the most hardline, racist governments in Israel’s history,” she added.
Queen Rania has vocally expressed her opposition to the war on Gaza. She called for a ceasefire in Gaza at the inaugural Web Summit Qatar in Doha on February 27th. “We need a ceasefire,” she said in her speech, “A cease to the destruction, a cease to the displacement, a cease to the deprivation by design.”
“Israeli leaders must stop treating the existence of Palestinians as an inconvenient truth, as a demographic challenge, as a [lawn] that needs to be mowed every now and then,” she said. “Palestinians are here to stay.”