Jordan's King Abdullah II told the UN General Assembly that the international community was failing its “moral obligation” to protect Palestinian civilians. speech On Tuesday, the Palestinian foreign minister categorically denied that Jordan would take in Palestinians fleeing the war.
The king spent the entirety of his speech denouncing Israel's self-defense operations against the jihadist terrorist organization Hamas. Israel launched a full counterterrorism operation in Hamas-controlled Gaza following the invasion of the country by Hamas terrorists on October 7, 2023, in which Hamas jihadists attacked Israeli residential neighborhoods, killing entire families in their homes, gang-raping and torturing them, and taking hostages. The Israeli government believes that 101 people remain in Hamas captivity as of the time of writing, and that approximately 1,200 people were killed on the day of the attack.
King Abdullah did not mention Hamas by name in his speech, but he did mention “October 7” several times – not the date of an unprecedented jihadist massacre, but the date the king claims was the beginning of the massacre of Palestinians. By not acknowledging the October 7 attacks, the king made it appear as if the Israeli military operation had not triggered anything.
“This Israeli government has killed more children, journalists, aid workers and medical personnel than any other war in recent history,” King claimed. “Some 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7th, so it is no wonder that many are wondering why this war is not seen as deliberately targeting Palestinians.”
“The level of civilian suffering cannot be ignored as an inevitable contingency,” he added.
The 42,000 death toll claim is Numbers Issued by the Gaza Ministry of Health Hamas organization.
King Abdullah continued to declare that all countries in the world must act to protect the Palestinians, except Jordan, which would not accept Palestinian refugees in the name of rejecting “forced relocation.”
“Now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people,” he declared. “It is the moral obligation of the international community to establish mechanisms for their protection throughout the occupied territories. This will guarantee the safety of Palestinians and Israelis from the extremists who are bringing the region to the brink of all-out war.”
He claimed that these “extremists” included those who were pushing for Jordan to accept Palestinian refugees.
“This includes those who continue to promote the idea of Jordan as a separate homeland,” he added. “So let me be very clear: this will never happen. We will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians. It would be a war crime.”
The king argued that Israel's attempt to eliminate Hamas' genocidal terrorists had created the impression that “some countries ignore international law, that international justice bows to the will of power, and that human rights are selective, a privilege that can be granted or denied at will.”
Israel declared war on Hamas following the brutal October 7 attack and has targeted terrorist infrastructure in the Gaza Strip to prevent similar massacres in the future. Complicating Israel's efforts is Hamas' longstanding policy of using Palestinian civilians as human shields, hiding weapons and terror tunnels throughout Gaza's schools, hospitals and even children's rooms. King Abdullah made no mention of Hamas or its use of Palestinians as human shields.
Jordan is one of several neighboring Middle Eastern countries whose residents have clearly voiced support for Hamas terrorism over the past year, most notoriously after entrepreneurs opened a restaurant called “October 7” in the country shortly after the attacks, only to change the name after facing international condemnation.
While Western countries, including the leftist administration of US President Joe Biden, are open to accepting Palestinian refugees, Gaza's neighbors are not as enthusiastic. In addition to Jordan, the government of Egypt, the only country other than Israel that shares a border with Gaza, has categorically rejected the idea of providing a safe haven for Palestinian refugees, while at the same time criticizing Israel for trying to free them from Hamas.
“Egypt rejects any attempt to solve the Palestinian issue by military means or by forcibly expelling Palestinians from their land, which would come at the expense of countries in the region,” Egyptian leader Abdel Fattah el-Sisi declared in October, shortly after the Hamas attacks. Sisi proposed expelling the Palestinians to the middle of Israel's arid Negev desert.
“If the idea is to expel Palestinians from Gaza, why not transport them to the Negev until the Gaza militants, such as Hamas and PIJ, withdraw. [Palestinian Islamic Jihad]will they be eliminated?' he asked.
Egypt has resisted the opening of its Rafah border crossing into the Gaza Strip, which would even allow humanitarian aid in, and vital shipments of food and medicine have been repeatedly blocked. The United Nations has largely supported Egypt's refusal to allow Palestinian civilians to escape the Gaza war zone.
