Jordanian proposal on post-war Gaza focuses on comprehensive plan — Safadi

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned on Sunday that Israel is pushing the entire region towards a dangerous escalation by persisting in its brutal aggression on Gaza that kills innocent people, deprives 2.3 million Palestinians of their right to life, water, food and medicine and displaces them from their homeland.

Safadi affirmed, in statements to the Jordan News Agency, Petra, that Jordan will confront with all its capabilities any attempts by the Israeli government to displace Palestinians within their homeland and beyond and that Jordan condemns this as a war crime added to the war crimes committed against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.

Safadi emphasised that any future security approach to Gaza will only contribute to consolidating the state of oppression, despair and misery created by Israel through its colonial policy before and during the war on Gaza, keeping the conflict a fate for the region.

He stressed that occupation is the root of all evil, and any approach that does not aim to end the occupation and meet all the rights of the Palestinian people will not achieve security and a just peace. Instead, it will trigger more conflicts and wars.

Safadi, in response to a question, stated that ending the aggression, ending the humanitarian catastrophe it causes, protecting civilians, and immediately and sufficiently delivering humanitarian aid represent interim priorities that the Kingdom is committed to achieving.

He said that Jordan refuses to talk about the day after for Gaza before stopping the aggression, and outside the context of a comprehensive plan to fulfill the full rights of the Palestinian people.

“The fundamental goal that all efforts should unite for now is to stop the brutal aggression on the sector and end the unprecedented humanitarian disaster it causes,” Safadi underlined.

He added that "The Jordanian proposal is that after stopping the aggression, dealing with the situation in Gaza should be in the context of a comprehensive plan, based on the firm unity of Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem. It should start with recognising the independent and sovereign Palestinian state along the lines of June 4, 1967, with its capital in the occupied Jerusalem, on the basis of the two-state solution. Practical steps should be taken to implement it within specific time frames and with real guarantees".

Furthermore, Safadi stated, "We do not want a new process that Israel will turn into a waste of time, during which it will consolidate its occupation of Palestinian land. We are working to launch a clear plan with clear goals, timings and steps to resolve the conflict based on the two-state solution. We will coordinate this with our brothers in the Arab countries and discuss it with our partners in the international community."

Safadi condemned in his statements to Petra the inciting and racist extremist policies and positions of Israeli ministers who demonise Palestinians and deny their right to life on their national land.

He warned against the extremist agenda of the Israeli government, openly expressed by ministers, which aims to escalate aggression on Gaza and expand it to the West Bank and Lebanon, with the aim of prolonging its political leadership and dragging the West into direct military confrontations in the region.

Safadi said that the Israeli prime minister and extremist racist ministers in his government openly say that they want to displace Palestinians from Gaza, reject their right to self-determination, and work to consolidate the occupation. This will make future conflicts and more wars inevitable for the region, he added.

He stressed the need for the international community to take clear and direct positions in condemning this extremism and confronting settler terrorism.

The foreign minister emphasised that Jordan will protect its interests, positions and constants to support the Palestinian cause and that the Kingdom will continue to expose Israeli extremism and crimes and pressure for the United Nations Security Council to take legally, ethically and humanely required decisions to stop the aggression and address Israeli violations of international law.

"Nothing justifies the Security Council's failure to make a decision to stop the brutal aggression on Gaza and stop the war crimes committed by Israel there,” Safadi said, indicating that "nothing also justifies the Security Council’s failure even to impose a mechanism to deliver humanitarian aid to face the humanitarian catastrophe exacerbated by aggression that surpasses all legal, ethical and human lines".

He added that this failure reflects dangerous double standards and selectivity in the multilateral international system, which is beginning to seriously affect the image of many countries and their interests in the region.

Safadi highlighted that the hideousness of Israeli crimes in Gaza and the magnitude of the humanitarian disaster caused by the aggression changed the positions of many countries that voted in favour of the resolution presented by Jordan on behalf of the Arab group in the United Nations General Assembly.

He affirmed that the killings, destruction and human suffering caused by the aggression nullified the pretext of self-defence promoted by the Israeli government and revealed that the war was a sudden retaliation and a means to translate the agenda of racist extremists in the Israeli government and the policies of its leader to terminate the two-state solution and deprive the Palestinians of their rights, thus prolonging his rule.

Safadi confirmed that Jordan supports the call made by South Africa against Israel on charges of committing the crime of genocide, indicating that Jordan will present a legal pleading to the court, which will begin hearing the case in a few days.