Jordan ready to ‘immediately’ send relief assistance into Gaza but Israel restricting aid delivery - Momani

-        Some 100 aid trucks in Jordan waiting to be allowed to go to war-torn Gaza

-        Since March 4, Jordan has evacuated 114 people from Gaza, 39 patients with 75 family escorts

-        All patients who returned to Gaza have completed their treatment

-        Patients receive high quality medical treatment at Jordan’s top private, public hospitals

-        Jordan seeks to evacuate more children from Gaza but ‘Israeli authorities still put hurdles’

AMMAN — Minister of Government Communication has said that Jordan is ready to deliver relief aid into Gaza, but Israeli restrictions have not allowed this aid to be sent into the war-torn Strip.

In an interview with The Jordan Times, Momani said, “Jordan is ready to deliver urgently needed relief aid into Gaza, with some 100 aid trucks in Jordan waiting to be allowed to go to Gaza. Israeli restrictions have not allowed this aid to be delivered.”

Momani, who is also the government spokesperson, said, “Jordan has always been at the forefront of providing humanitarian assistance to Gaza through all available means since the start of the war, including air drops, land convoys and air bridge.

Responding to the issue of Gazan child patients, who have received medical treatment in Jordan and went back to Gaza on May 13 and whose families spoke about their concerns to go back to Gaza with the war is still ongoing, Momani said, “Jordan announced it clearly from the beginning of the medical evacuation, which started in early March, that patients will go back to Gaza once they conclude their medical treatment as this will allow Jordan to bring more patients. For example, the return of the 17 children [on May 13]who fully completed their treatment allowed Jordan to bring another batch of child patients the next day, all of them were suffering from cancer.”

“The 17 child patients who returned with their family escorts were part of a group of 29 patients. Twelve patients are still in Jordan because they still have not completed their treatment,” Momani said.

The minister added that the Kingdom’s policy is “to support Palestinians’ steadfastness on their homeland, and not to contribute in any way to their displacement.”

“These patients were brought to Jordan and returned to Gaza under the same circumstances.”

Some families have claimed on videos circulated on social media that they were sent back to Gaza before their children completed treatment.

“These claims are completely false. Medical reports confirm that all the patients who returned to Gaza have completed their treatment. They all received the best medical care at Jordan’s top hospitals, and their families were provided with the best possible accommodations. Some of these patients underwent delicate surgeries, and they are all in good health now.”

He also said that patients “receive high quality medical treatment at Jordan’s top private and public hospitals. Jordan is well-recognised as a regional leader in medical care. For example, dozens of cancer patients from Gaza are being treated at the King Hussein Cancer Center, which is a leading institution in the region that has gained international recognition for its state-of-the-art facilities and quality care.”

In response to what the families who returned to Gaza said about Israeli authorities seizing their money, medicines, and personal belongings, Momani said, “This is unfortunately true. Israeli authorities seized at the border crossing with Gaza the belongings, money, mobile phones and even the food items carried by the people who returned from Jordan. This was on Kerem Shalom crossing.”

The minister said that Jordan seeks to evacuate more children from Gaza and to expedite the process but “Israeli authorities still put hurdles.”

“Jordan has always sought to evacuate child patients from Gaza by air but Israeli authorities have never agreed to such an arrangement.”

Despite the challenges, Momani said that Jordan, since March 4, has evacuated 114 people from Gaza (39 patients with 75 family escorts) in three batches in cooperation with the World Health Organisation (WHO). 

“The first batch was on March 29 when 29 children, accompanied by 44 of their family members, were brought into the Kingdom, and the second and third batches were on May 14 and May 20 when four cancer patients, accompanied by 12 family members, and six child cancer patients, with 19 family members, came to Jordan,” he said.

“Jordanian field hospitals in Gaza continue to provide critical medical care to the wounded and sick at a time when the health sector in Gaza has completely broken down due to the ongoing war.”

Jordan runs two military field hospitals in Gaza, one in the Strip's north, which was established in 2009 following the war in 2008.

The second was established in Khan Younis in the south in November 2023 at the peak of the Israeli war of aggression on the coastal enclave that erupted on October 7, 2023.

“Jordan has also evacuated several cases to receive necessary life-saving medical care in Jordanian hospitals before,” Momani said.