UPDATE WITH JORDAN’S STATEMENT
By Abdelraouf Arnaout
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz reiterated his call on Monday for expediting the construction of a wall along the border with Jordan.
In a statement, Katz said the wall “must be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian regime and the State of Israel.”
He claimed that Iran is cooperating with Hamas members in Lebanon “to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan with the aim of destabilizing the regime.”
In the first official reaction to Katz’s statements, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi warned that Israeli government policies pose the “biggest threat” to regional security.
“No amount of disinformation by radical Israeli officials spreading lies, including about Jordan, will change the fact that Israel’s continued aggression on Gaza, its violation of international law and the rights of the Palestinian people are the biggest threat to regional security,” Safadi said in a statement on X.
“Facts speak way louder than lies,” he added
“The facts about the horrors this most radical of Israeli governments is bringing upon innocent Palestinian women, men and children and the threat of its illegal actions and radical policies to the security and stability of region are so clear and documented,” Safadi said.
“No propaganda campaigns, no lies, no fabrications can cover that.”
Tension has been running high across the West Bank due to Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack.
At least 620 Palestinians have also been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.
In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.
*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala