Lower House to examine deals with Israel, make recommendations to government

AMMAN — The Lower House on Monday tasked its Legal Committee with examining the deals Jordan has signed with Israel and submitting recommendations on them to be referred to the government for the necessary action. 

A majority of lawmakers voted in favour of a proposal by to examine the deals between Jordan and Israel, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported.

The House said that the fate of the deals Jordan has signed with Israel will be "linked to Israel halting its aggression on Gaza", Petra said. 

The Lower House Speaker also called on the Legal Committee to prepare an official prosecution petition to be sent to the International Criminal Court about the "Israel war crimes and genocide in Gaza".

 He also asked Arab and Islamic parliaments to follow suit. 

Safadi also hailed His Majesty King Abdullah’s efforts which “have contributed to changing the international take on Gaza after it was influenced by the narrative of the occupation entity”.    

Safadi also lamented what he described as the “international community’s silence” on the Israeli brutality and crimes against the Palestinian people. “It is a shame that the international community is unable to end the slaughter of children and women and the attacks on hospitals,” Petra reported. 

Voicing appreciation for the Jordanian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza and occupied West Bank, Safadi said that the House will coordinate with the government and the Jordanian Armed Forces – Arab Army to increase the number of field hospitals in the Palestinian territories. 

Along with the 1994 Wadi Arab Peace Treaty, Jordan in 2016 signed a gas deal with Israel and another memorandum of understanding in 2022 for a water-for-energy deal under which Jordan will provide Israel with electricity in exchange for desalinated water.