The joint Jordanian-Palestinian Higher Committee convened here Monday, co-chaired by Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh and his Palestinian counterpart Mohammad Mustafa.
The two sides signed 14 agreements and memorandums of understanding covering a host of sectors, and agreed to form a technical committee to follow up on implementation.
In remarks after the meeting, the prime ministers highlighted the “deep brotherly” relations between the two countries, and a keen interest on both sides to further strengthen relations and cooperation at various levels.
Khasawneh said the committee’s meeting took place at a time Israel continued its “brutal and savage aggression” against our people in the Gaza Strip, which must stop immediately, along with a systematic and unprecedented Israeli escalation in the West Bank, including settler violence, land confiscation and unilateral measures to change reality on the ground.
He said attention should not be diverted from these practices, together with the “machine of systemati
c killing and destruction, which contravene the international humanitarian law, human rights and ethical standards.”
Khasawneh said about 36,000 people were killed in Gaza along with widespread destruction of infrastructure and the health sector.
He also said that since the first moment of the war, Jordan, under the leadership of His Majesty King Abdullah II, and in partnership and coordination with its Palestinian and Arab brothers and friends in the world, has sought to build a position to immediately stop the war and Israel’s illegitimate and illegal measures in the West Bank.
The anti-war Jordanian diplomacy, he said, was coupled with the direct dispatch of aid through successive airdrops, aid aircraft to Al-Arish Airport, truck convoys loaded with humanitarian and medical aid and field hospitals.
Everyone should realize the horrendous killing, displacement and starvation of the Palestinian people and the damage to their economy, which requires the provision of aid to support their steadfastness in th
eir land and then the reconstruction of Gaza, he said.
He also referred to an international conference in Amman on June 11 to coordinate aid to Gaza, which His Majesty will jointly host with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah El Sisi and UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, stressing there is no alternative to opening all crossings for the sustainable access of aid.
These efforts, he said, are in line with His Majesty’s endeavor to achieve a lasting ceasefire and move to “an irreversible political path and horizon” with clear and defined time frames leading to the two-state solution, according to which an independent and fully sovereign Palestinian state will be established on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Khasawneh stressed the geographical unity between the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip as the basis for Palestinian statehood, reiterating there is no alternative to the two-state solution.
He also said Jordan backs the Palestinian government’s reform program, a larg
e part of which hinged on Israel not hindering it, and Palestinian unity.
For his part, Mustafa thanked Jordan for providing all forms of political, diplomatic and relief support to the Palestinian people, leadership and just cause and efforts to stop the Israeli war and guarantee the flow of aid to the Gaza Strip.
The Palestinian Prime Minister also stressed the historical Hashemite custodianship over Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and welcomed Jordan’s hosting of the conference on the humanitarian emergency response in Gaza.
He also outlined the Palestinian government’s priorities, foremost of which is halting the aggression against Palestinians in Gaza and the West Bank.
Mustafa also said Jordan is Palestine’s gateway to the Arab world, urging joint action to facilitate trade, the movement of passengers and extend working hours at border crossings.
Source: Jordan News Agency
