Jordan decided on Wednesday to recall its ambassador to Israel “immediately” to protest against the Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip, which was triggered after a bloody attack on Israeli soil by the Palestinian Hamas on October 7.
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The Jordanian kingdom, which signed a peace treaty with its Israeli neighbor in 1994, is the first Arab country to recall its ambassador since the war between Israel and Gaza’s ruling Hamas began on October 7.
“Today (Wednesday), Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi decided to immediately recall the Jordanian ambassador to Israel,” the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
“We reject and condemn the ongoing Israeli war in Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” the statement said, warning of an “expansion” of that war that would “threaten the security of the entire region .” and global security and peace.
Mr. Safadi, the ministry added, called on the “relevant authorities to request the Israeli Foreign Ministry not to send back to Jordan its ambassador, who had previously left the Kingdom.”
Since October 7, several demonstrations in solidarity with the Palestinians have taken place in Amman, calling for the termination of the peace treaty between Jordan and Israel and the closure of the Israeli embassy.
Jordan borders Israel and the West Bank, a Palestinian territory occupied by Israel since 1967.
The last time Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel was in 2019, when it wanted to protest Israel’s refusal to release two Jordanians who had been detained for several months.
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“tributary”
“A return of the ambassadors depends on the end of the war waged by Israel against Gaza (…) and the end of all measures that deprive Palestinians of their right to food, water, medicine and their right to safe and secure supplies.” a stable life on their national soil,” the ministry said on Wednesday.
On Tuesday, during a telephone conversation with US President Joe Biden, King Abdullah II of Jordan stressed “the need to cease fire and work towards an immediate humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza to ensure uninterrupted access to ‘humanitarian assistance (…)'” to ensure. .
During a summit in Cairo on October 21, Abdallah II protested against the fact that “the world is silent in the face of Israeli bombing.” “The Arab world hears it clearly: Palestinian lives are worth less than Israeli lives.”
Egypt was the first Arab country to sign a peace treaty with Israel in 1979. Since August 2020, the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco have been normalizing their relations with Israel.
Outside the Middle East, Bolivia has cut diplomatic ties with Israel, while Chile and Colombia have announced they will recall their ambassadors to Israel to protest Israeli bombings in Gaza.
According to Israeli authorities, at least 1,400 people were killed in Israel, most of them civilians and most on the day of the October 7 attack.
Nearly 8,800 people, including 3,648 children, were killed in Israeli bombings in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, according to a statement from the Hamas Ministry of Health.