Jordan’s King Abdullah II warned US Secretary of State Antony Blinken on Sunday of “catastrophic” consequences if the war in the Middle East continues, as the White House struggles to avoid escalating conflict.
“His Majesty King Abdullah, during a meeting on Sunday with US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, warned of the catastrophic ramifications of the continuation of the war in Gaza, highlighting the need to end the tragic humanitarian crisis in the Strip,” the Royal Court later said. your meeting.
Abdullah II pressed Blinken to push for a ceasefire in the hot three-month war between Israel and the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip.
Blinken has embarked on a roughly weeklong trip to the Middle East in a diplomatic effort to try to ease rising tensions in the region.
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken embarked on a week-long visit to the Middle East to try to head off the growing threat of a second front in Israel’s war. AP
Abdullah II maintained that there will be “no stability in the region without a just solution to the Palestinian question and a just and comprehensive peace on the basis of the two-state solution.”
He also unequivocally rejected any attempt to displace Palestinians in the Gaza Strip or the West Bank, something Israeli President Isaac Herzog already strongly ruled out in an interview on Sunday.
King Abdullah II of Jordan on Sunday demanded a ceasefire in the war between Hamas and Israel. POOL/AFP via Getty Images
“Absolutely, absolutely not,” Herzog told NBC’s “Meet the Press” on Sunday about Palestinian displacement. “It is not entirely in agreement or is not the position of the Israeli government, or the Israeli parliament, or the Israeli public.
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“I say it openly, officially and unequivocally: this is not the Israeli position.”
After Blinken’s meeting with Abdullah II, State Department spokesman Matthew Miller addressed concerns about displacement.
“The Secretary thanked King Abdullah II for Jordan’s role and leadership in providing vital aid to Palestinian civilians in Gaza,” Miller said in a statement.
“The Secretary also highlighted the United States’ opposition to the forcible displacement of Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza and the critical need to protect Palestinian civilians in the West Bank from extremist settler violence.”
Last year, Blinken publicly lamented that “too many Palestinians have died” in the bloody war.
Jordan, Israel’s neighbor, has long expressed concern about the war. Her monarch has also attacked Israel’s policies toward the Palestinians.
Blinken is trying to navigate a dynamic deeply forged in the Middle East. AFP via Getty Images
Following his trip to Jordan, Blinken was due to visit Qatar to meet with Emir Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani, as well as Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani, on Sunday.
Blinken’s trip to the Middle East and eastern Mediterranean comes amid growing fears in the Biden administration that a second front could erupt over Israel’s growing friction with the Lebanese terrorist group Hezbollah.
Days after Hamas’ deadly surprise attack on Israel on October 7, President Biden dissuaded Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu from carrying out a preemptive strike against Hezbollah, the Wall Street Journal reported.
Smoke rises from the Gaza Strip along Israel’s southern border on January 7. ABIR SULTAN/EPA-EFE/Shutterstock
Still, the threat of expanded conflict remains.
Hezbollah is a Shiite Muslim group that also functions as a political party in Lebanon and a militant force. It is designated as a terrorist organization by both the United States and a number of countries.
Israeli forces and Hezbollah have traded blows in recent days, including on Saturday when the group took credit for launching rockets into Israel.
Dozens of rockets are believed to have hit Israel. This comes in apparent retaliation after the group accused Israel of killing Hamas leader Saleh Arouri in Beirut days earlier.
Palestinians search for victims at the site of an Israeli attack in Gaza. REUTERS
Israel has estimated that Hezbollah has an arsenal of nearly 150,000 precision-guided missiles, making it a more formidable military force than Hamas, according to the Associated Press.
Hezbollah and Israel have a history of war.
Since war between Israel and Hamas broke out in October, more than 1,200 Israelis have been killed. Hamas also took more than 240 people hostage. About half of them have since been released.
Gaza’s Hamas-linked Health Ministry says at least 22,835 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting.
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Source: vtt.edu.vn