Jordan FM condemns collective punishment by Israel in Gaza as a ‘war crime’

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi has condemned the collective punishment of Palestinians in the besieged Gaza Strip practised by Israel which amounts to a “war crime”, stressing his country’s rejection of Israel’s use of “starvation” as a weapon against the Palestinians.

“We must not let the Palestinian people down. They are a besieged and occupied people who begin their day with death and end it with death. We oppose the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinian people in Gaza,” Al-Safadi said yesterday at the UN Security Council’s tenth emergency meeting on the illegal Israeli actions.

“The children of Gaza who survive the Israeli bombing face the danger of death due to hunger and dehydration,” he added, noting that the family members of Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh who were killed in an Israeli strike on their home in Gaza were “never armed or members of Hamas”.

He stressed that “Arabs and Muslims value the lives of all human beings, regardless of their religion, nationality, or race,” adding that “the collective punishment practised by Israel against the residents of Gaza is a war crime.”

On Wednesday, the UN Security Council failed to adopt a Russian draft resolution calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, after failing to adopt an American draft resolution that does not call for a halt to military operations in Gaza. Russia and China used their veto power in the Security Council against the US draft resolution.

Meanwhile, the Chinese delegate said:“The American draft resolution does not mention that Palestine has been occupied for a long time, and that any vague resolution regarding war and peace is irresponsible and dangerous and paves the way for large-scale military action.”

Israel has killed over 7,028 Palestinians, including 2,913 children, and injured 18,484 people, in the ongoing bombardment of the besieged Gaza Strip while cutting electricity, water, fuel and medicine from the 2.2 million Palestinians in Gaza causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.

Read: Diseases haunt displaced Gazans amid Israeli bombardment