Future of region cannot be taken hostage to Israeli extremists' political ambitions — Safadi

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi on Tuesday decried the international community's inaction and silence on Israeli war crimes in Gaza, saying Israel is mocking the international law. 

"Israel is making a mockery of international law. And the Security Council has yet to demand a ceasefire. It has yet to enforce its own resolution, demanding that food get to the starved, medicine gets to the ill and wounded, and anesthesia gets to children undergoing surgery to treat injuries caused by indiscriminate Israeli shelling of their homes, schools, hospitals,andshelters," Safadi said in a speech to the Security Council.

Safadi called for intensified efforts to end Israel's "brutal" war against innocent people in Gaza, warning of a "devastating regional spillover." 

"Stop this massacre.  Every day that goes by without ending this aggression means more innocent lives lost to Israeli fire power, to hunger and to disease."

"No place is safe in Gaza… Gaza has become a graveyard for children," Safadi said, citing remarks by UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres.

"Even the dead have not escaped this inhumane onslaught. Israeli soldiers dug them out of their graves, –literally dug them out of their graves,– in 16 cemeteries," Safadi said.  

Jordanian top diplomat also said that ministers in Israel's most right-wing government is embracing an "ideology of hate" and is acting accordingly thus "normalizing the mass murder of Palestinians."

"These crimes are not the actions of rogue soldiers. They are an expression of the extremist, racist agenda that is propelling this war, and that has systematically dehumanized 5 million Palestinians under Israeli occupation in Gaza, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem."

He also said that Israeli has "systematically" and "deliberately" destroyed the whole community in Gaza, killing thousands, displacing millions and devastating civilian institutions and infrastructure. 

"Israel has destroyed a whole community. It has displaced more than two thirds of Gaza’s population, 1.9 million people, who now suffer the indignity of overcrowded shelters, denied access to water, to food and to medicine. It has starved civilians by deliberately impeding humanitarian assistance.

 "This brutality cannot be allowed to continue. You must stop it. Adoptinga binding Security Council resolution forcing the end of this misery is the least that you can do now." 

Safadi also called for holding Israeli accountable for its war crimes and for preventing the achievement of peace. 

 "The future of the region cannot be taken hostage to the political ambitions and the radical agendas of Israeli extremists who describe Palestinians as human animals, unworthy of life, who enable settler terrorism against innocent Palestinians."