Jordan demands opening of all crossings, end to starvation in Gaza amid humanitarian crisis

By Laith Al Junaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) - Jordan urged the opening of all land crossings into the Gaza Strip on Friday and an end to starvation in the besieged enclave which has been under a relentless onslaught by the Israeli army for more than six months.

''All land crossings to Gaza must be opened. A ceasefire must begin now,'' Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi wrote on X. ''UN must be in charge of all humanitarian operations and have full access.”

Safadi noted that ''anything short of that’ll be another lie and won’t even begin to address the catastrophe Israel has created,'' stressing that ''starvation of Gazans must end.''

Israel has waged a deadly military offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack in early October by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, killed less than 1,200 people.

More than 33,000 Palestinians have since been killed and 75,750 injured amid mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Israel has also imposed a crippling blockade on the Gaza Strip, leaving its population, particularly residents of northern Gaza, on the verge of starvation.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza’s population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel is accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which last week asked it to do more to prevent famine in Gaza.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio​​​​​​​ in Istanbul