Jordan King hails Turkiye efforts to end Gaza war

Jordanian King Abdullah II, on Thursday, hailed Turkiye’s efforts to end a deadly Israeli offensive on the Gaza Strip, Anadolu Agency reports.

The Jordanian Monarch met with Turkish Foreign Minister, Hakan Fidan, in the capital, Amman, for talks on efforts to halt the Gaza war and assuage the catastrophic humanitarian conditions in the enclave, the Royal Court said in a statement.

The King “expressed his appreciation for Turkiye’s steadfast positions and efforts to end the war,” the statement said.

He underlined the importance of coordinating between Amman and Ankara to end the Israeli war in Gaza.

The Monarch stressed the necessity “of pushing for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, protecting civilians and delivering relief and medical aid without interruption,” the statement said.

He also warned of Israeli escalation in the Occupied West Bank, including settler violence against Palestinians and violations at holy sites in East Jerusalem.

“Jordan rejects any attempt to separate Gaza from the West Bank as they are an extension of the Palestinian State,” Abdullah said.

The top Turkish diplomat arrived in Amman late Wednesday for his first visit to Jordan since he took his post in June 2023.

Fidan met, early Thursday, with his Jordanian counterpart, Ayman Safadi, for talks on the developments in the Palestinian Territories.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Hamas which Tel Aviv says killed 1,200 people.

However, since then, it has been revealed by Haaretz that helicopters and tanks of the Israeli army had, in fact, killed many of the 1,139 soldiers and civilians claimed by Israel to have been killed by the Palestinian Resistance.

At least 24,620 Palestinians have since been killed, mostly women and children, and 61,830 injured, according to Palestinian health authorities.

The Israeli offensive has left 85 per cent of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine while 60% of the enclave’s infrastructure was damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

READ: Israel must let displaced Palestinians in Gaza return to their homes, says Jordan FM