AMMAN, Nov 5 (NNN-PETRA) – US Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, and his counterparts from Egypt and Jordan, agreed on the need to do more to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza, but a clear point of division emerged on the question of a possible ceasefire.
Though the Jordanian and Egyptian foreign ministers urged an immediate ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, Blinken took the position that, that would be counterproductive and made clear the furthest he would go was supporting a humanitarian pause, to give time for humanitarian supplies to be delivered and getting civilians out of Gaza.
Jordanian Foreign Minister, Ayman Safadi, told reporters that, the war in Gaza could not be permitted to continue.
“The whole region in sinking in a sea of hatred, that will define generations to come.”
He said, the Arab countries were demanding an immediate ceasefire, a more dramatic action than the humanitarian pauses supported by the Biden administration, to allow for the delivery of food and other supplies and to enable time to secure the release of hostages.
“We don’t accept that this is self-defence,” Safadi said, adding, “It cannot be justified under any pretext and it will not bring Israel security, it will not bring the region peace.”
Israel is committing “war crimes” and that it should not be above international law, he stressed.
Meanwhile, King Abdullah II of Jordan reiterated that the only path to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is by working towards a political horizon, to achieve just and comprehensive peace, based on the two-state solution.
He reaffirmed the kingdom’s firm support for the Palestinian people, in gaining their legitimate rights, to establish a sovereign and independent Palestinian state on the June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister, Najib Mikati, flew to Cairo yesterday for talks with President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi of Egypt, after his meeting with Blinken in the Jordanian capital, Amman.
According to a statement from Sisi’s office, they also affirmed the necessity of “relaunching the peace track and implement the state-state solution principle, to achieve justice, security and stability to the region’s peoples.”– NNN-PETRA
