BERLIN, Germany – Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned Tuesday of a dire situation in the Middle East if the conflict between Israel and the Hamas terror group is allowed to spread to other countries – a suspected reference to Lebanon, where tensions have risen in recent times days have skyrocketed.
“The entire region is on the verge of falling into the abyss,” said Abdullah after a meeting with Chancellor Olaf Scholz in Berlin.
“All our efforts are needed to ensure we don’t get there,” he said.
Scholz, who will travel to Israel later on Tuesday, also warned of an escalation.
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“We have the common goal of preventing a wildfire in the region,” said Scholz.
“I once again expressly warn Hezbollah and Iran not to intervene in this conflict,” he said of the Lebanese terror group, whose fighters have repeatedly clashed with Israeli forces on the border in recent days.
He will be one of the first heads of government to visit Israel since Hamas launched the bloodiest terror attack in Israel’s 75-year history last week.
Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz (r) and Jordan’s King Abdullah II (l) shake hands after a joint press conference after a meeting in the Chancellery in Berlin on October 17, 2023. (Photo by Tobias SCHWARZ / AFP)
In a shock attack on October 7, Hamas terrorists from Gaza breached the border with Israel, shot, stabbed and burned about 1,300 people, the vast majority of them civilians, and kidnapped 200 to 250 into the Gaza Strip.
According to the Hamas-run Health Ministry, Israel has responded with devastating airstrikes on Hamas targets in Gaza, killing at least 2,750 Palestinians. Israel said its forces also killed around 1,500 terrorists on Israeli territory.
Israel is sending tens of thousands of troops to the border in preparation for a major ground offensive aimed at toppling the terror group ruling the Gaza Strip.
Israel has ordered around 1.1 million Gazans – nearly half of the population of 2.4 million – to leave the north of the densely populated enclave to minimize civilian casualties ahead of the ground operation.
Thousands gathered at Gaza’s Rafah border crossing with Egypt, the only crossing not controlled by Israel, to flee.
Palestinians, some with foreign passports hoping to get into Egypt and others waiting for help, wait at the Rafah border crossing in the southern Gaza Strip on October 16, 2023. (Mohammed Abed/AFP)
But Jordan’s king said Tuesday his country and Cairo would refuse to accept Palestinians fleeing Gaza.
“As far as the issue of refugees coming to Jordan – and I think I can speak quite strongly not only on behalf of Jordan as a nation but also on behalf of our friends in Egypt – that is a red line,” he said.
The escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza “must be addressed within the Gaza Strip and the West Bank,” he said.