Top Jordanian, US diplomats discuss Gaza cease-fire

By Laith Al-Jjnaidi

AMMAN, Jordan (AA) - Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken Wednesday discussed efforts to achieve an “immediate and permanent” cease-fire in the war-torn Gaza Strip.

This came during a phone call received by Safadi from Blinken, according to a statement from the Jordanian Foreign Ministry.

The two ministers discussed “efforts to achieve an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, and the negotiations being mediated by Egypt, Qatar, and the United States to conclude a hostage swap deal that would lead to halting the war on Gaza.”

They also addressed the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, the necessity of ensuring adequate and immediate aid delivery, and ensuring its distribution throughout the territory.

The statement quoted Safadi reaffirming “the embodiment of the sovereign Palestinian state with its capital in occupied East Jerusalem, along the lines of June 1967, to live in security and peace alongside Israel based on the two-state solution (Palestinian and Israeli).”

Regarding the situation in the occupied West Bank, the Jordanian minister warned against Israel's continued illegitimate actions there, besieging the Palestinian economy, targeting the Palestinian National Authority and its institutions, and escalating tensions.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire, Israel has faced international condemnation amid its continued brutal offensive on Gaza since an Oct. 7, 2023 attack by the Palestinian group Hamas.

Nearly 38,000 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and around 87,300 others injured, according to local health authorities.

Nearly nine months into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, whose latest ruling ordered it to immediately halt its military operation in Rafah, where over a million Palestinians had sought refuge from the war before it was invaded on May 6.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala