Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi said that “What Israel is doing is not only killing innocent Palestinians, destroying their neighborhoods, or making Gaza an uninhabitable place, but it is killing hope for peace.”

Safadi made his remarks as he participated yesterday at the Wilson Center in Washington, adding that “If you conducted an opinion poll in the Middle East and asked whether peace with Israel is viable, the majority would answer no.”

Safadi confirmed that Israel had a strategy before this war and applied it in the West Bank by building settlements, confiscating lands, and allowing the radicals to decide the fate of the Palestinians.

He said that Israel challenges the world and the United States, as it does not abide by international law, kills people indiscriminately, deprives them of their right to food and medicine, and applies hostage-taking startegy against the Gazans.

Safadi stated that this war on Gaza has exceeded all limits, as the largest
number of civilians and journalists have been killed and the largest number of hospitals have been destroyed.

He wondered about the number of people that must be killed in Gaza for the world to say enough is enough for this war, adding that the killing of 17,000 Palestinians, the dismemberment of children, and the lack of tools to remove those under the rubble how can all of this be justified?

Safadi referred to the Israeli practices and the general context that preceded the events of October 7, indicating that the Israeli Prime Minister himself stated that he wants to suffocate any Palestinian aspiration towards establishing a state.

Safadi criticized some international positions as a result of this war, adding that the positions of some did not rise o the level of the event and did not say enough is enough about what is happening to the Palestinians.

He said that the danger will have repercussions in the future, stressing that “Is it possible for an Arab official to sit next to his Israeli counterpart a
nd talk about integration in the region or economic cooperation in this environment?”

The United States needs to create a plan with precise deadlines and requirements to end this war based on the two-state solution, following thirty years of fruitless diplomacy, according to Safadi.

Safadi explained that a comprehensive and just peace is what will save the entire region from having to live through the atrocities we that are taking place now.

He wondered how far the Israeli government wanted to go? What is its purpose? Does it want the two-state solution? It is clear now it is saying it does not want that, and the Israeli Prime Minister a few days ago said that as long as he remains in office, he will not allow the two-state solution to be achieved.

What this means is that he will never allow the conflict to be resolved, because if he believes that the Palestinians will give up their right to self-determination and statehood, he is misreading the lessons of decades of conflict. So what he is saying is that
he wants the conflict to continue.

He pointed out that what is happening in the West Bank is a quiet war that is also taking place, and there have been more than 300 terrorist attacks by settlers on Palestinians in the West Bank since the conflict began on October 7. The daily average is 6 terrorist attacks carried out by settlers on Palestinians.

He pointed out that Israel announced two days ago a new settlement expansion that will separate East Jerusalem from the southern West Bank, and that was only three days ago. Once again, Israeli politicians come out saying that they will not recognize the rights of the Palestinians, and the dehumanization of the Palestinians continues.

Safadi said that, “So I think what we are facing here is not just a challenge to what is happening in Gaza.”

He said, “When the entire population of Gaza is pushed to less than 56 percent of the strip’s area, and there are no hospitals, schools, sanitation, or water, to impose a reality that forces people to leave, which is rejecte
d by Jordan, Egypt, and all Arab countries, and we will never support that, or allow to displace Palestinians from their lands.”

He pointed out that, “His Majesty King Abdullah II was very clear about what constitutes a declaration of war against us, and we will do everything necessary to prevent this from being achieved, because what that means is that Israel is trying to solve the problem created by its occupation at the expense of the security and stability of the region.”

Safadi explained that Israel is waging an illegal, immoral and inhumane aggression against the Palestinians, and is creating a horrific reality, while the world is silent, stressing that failure to support the call for a ceasefire for humanitarian reasons is equivalent to supporting more killing of Palestinians, and further violating international law and committing War crimes, endangering the future of the region, including the lives of Israelis.

He said, “We all support the release of the hostages, and the only time the hostages wer
e released was when there was a ceasefire, because that allowed negotiations to take place. By continuing the war, it makes it impossible to release the hostages.”

Safadi said that the Palestinian National Authority was established in 1993 for a transitional period, and it should have ultimately led to the establishment of a Palestinian state within 4 to 5 years, but this did not happen. Rather, settlements doubled by more than 400 percent, and the political discourse in Israel shifted from accepting the Land-for- peace principle to an attempt to impose a reality that will not allow the emergence of a Palestinian state.

He pointed out that Israeli politicians are calling for the genocide of Palestinians, and Ben Gvir literally called for the killing of Palestinians and genocide, as did Smotrich, and the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset called for burning all of Gaza, and the Deputy Mayor of Jerusalem made an inhumane statement in this regard.

Safadi said that the two-state solution is the only way to resolve
this conflict, but Israel does not allow this solution to be reached, and is taking the necessary measures to prevent this, acting above international law, killing people, endangering the future of the region, and the status of the United States in the world.

Source: Jordan News Agency