Jordan's king starts foreign tour to rally support for Gaza cease-fire

By Laith Junaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) – Jordan's King Abdullah II kicked off a foreign tour on Thursday to rally support for an immediate cease-fire in the Gaza Strip.

The tour will take the monarch to the US, Canada, France, and Germany.

The tour “aims 'to mobilize international support for an immediate cease-fire in Gaza, the protection of civilians, and the provision of sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid,'' the royal court said in a statement.

The statement said the tour also aims to underline the importance of “creating a political horizon that leads to a comprehensive settlement to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.”

Israel has pounded the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian group Hamas in October, which Tel Aviv says killed nearly 1,200 people.

At least 27,840 Palestinians have since been killed and 67,317 others injured in the Israeli onslaught, according to local health authorities.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli offensive, while all of them are food insecure, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

*Writing by Mohammad Sio