NEW YORK: King Abdullah II of Jordan said Tuesday that over the past quarter century regional conflicts have plagued and tested the international community, affirming ‘yet I cannot recall a time of greater peril than this.’

‘Our United Nations is facing a crisis that strikes at its very legitimacy and threatens the collapse of global trust and moral authority. The UN is under attack literally and figuratively. For nearly a year, the sky-blue flag flying over UN shelters and schools in Gaza has been powerless to protect innocent civilians from Israeli military bombardment. UN aid trucks sit motionless just miles away from starving Palestinians. Humanitarian workers who proudly wear the emblem of this institution are disparaged and targeted, and the rulings of the UN’s International Court of Justice are defied, its opinions disregarded,’ King Abdullah II said in his address to world leaders at the UN General Assembly.

He said it is no surprise that both inside and outside this Hall, trust in the UN’s cornerst
one principles and ideals is crumbling, adding the harsh reality many see is that some nations are above international law, and global justice does bend to the will of power, and that human rights are selective; a privilege to be granted or denied at will.

‘We cannot stand for that, and we must recognize that undermining our international institutions and global frameworks is one of the gravest threats to our global security today,’ King Abdullah said.

The unprecedented scale of terror unleashed on Gaza since that day is beyond any justification, affirming that the Israeli government’s assault has resulted in one of the fastest death rates in recent conflicts, one of the fastest rates of starvation caused by war, the largest cohort of child amputees, and unprecedented levels of destruction.

‘This Israeli government has killed more children, more journalists, more aid workers, and more medical personnel than any other war in recent memory. And let us not forget the attacks on the West Bank. There, since Oct
ober 7, the Israeli government has killed more than 700 Palestinians, among them, 160 children. Palestinians held in Israeli detention centers exceed 10,700, including 400 women and 730 children-730 children. Over 4,000 Palestinians have been forced from their homes and lands. Armed settler violence has surged. And entire villages have been displaced,’ King Adullah said.

In Jerusalem, he said, flagrant violations of the historical and legal status quo at Muslim and Christian Holy Sites continue unabated, under the protection and encouragement of members of the Israeli government.

‘To be clear, this is in the West Bank, not Gaza. Almost 42,000 Palestinians have been killed since October 7. So, is it any wonder that many are questioning, how can this war not be perceived as deliberately targeting the Palestinians?’ the king added.

He said there is nothing familiar about this war and the violence unleashed since October 7, noting that in the absence of global accountability, repeated horrors are normalized, t
hreatening to create a future where anything is permitted anywhere in the world.

‘Now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of this international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories.

Speaking about propagating the idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland, King Abdulah said that will never happen, affirming ‘we will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime. No country in the region benefits from escalation. We have seen that clearly in the dangerous developments in Lebanon over the past few days. This has to stop,’ he stressed.

‘For years, the Arab world has extended a hand to Israel through the Arab Peace Initiative, offering full recognition and normalization in exchange for peace. But consecutive Israeli governments, emboldened by years of impunity, have rejected peace and chosen confrontation instead,’ King Abdullah added.

He said that Palestinians have borne more than 57
years of occupation and oppression. During this time, the Israeli government has been allowed to cross one red line after another, pointing out that the Israeli government has been accused of genocide at the ICJ, and calls for sanctions are growing louder.

‘The brutality of the war on Gaza has forced the world to look closer. Now, many see Israel through the eyes of its victims. The modern, advanced Israel admired from afar, and the Israel that Palestinians have experienced firsthand simply cannot co-exist. That is the choice its leaders and its people will have to make. To live by the democratic values of freedom, justice, and equality for all, or to risk further isolation and rejection,’ the King affirmed.

He noted that each escalation is followed by a pause, until the next, deadlier one, nd for years, the global community has taken the path of least resistance-accepting the status quo of the ongoing military occupation of Palestinians, all the while paying lip service to the two-state solution, adding th
at it has never been more evident that the current status quo is untenable.

King Abdullah affirmed that ‘we’ need a just peace, one grounded in international law, justice, equal rights, and mutual recognition, saying nations and people everywhere can and must unite around.

‘The world is watching, and history will judge us by the courage we show. And it’s not just the future that will hold us accountable, so will the people of the here and now. They will judge whether we, as the United Nations, will surrender to inaction, or will fight to uphold the principles that anchor this institution and our world. Right now, they are asking whether we will stand by as parents watch their children waste away, as doctors watch their patients die for lack of basic medical supplies, and as more innocent lives are lost, because the world failed to act,’ King Abdullah said.

This war must end, hostages and detainees must return home, but every day we wait is one day too long for far too many, he added.

‘So, I call on all co
untries to join Jordan in enforcing an international Gaza Humanitarian Gateway-a massive relief effort to deliver food, clean water, medicine, and other vital supplies to those in desperate need. Because humanitarian aid should never be a tool of war,’ King Abdullah stressed.

‘Whatever our politics, one truth is undeniable-no people should have to endure such unprecedented suffering, abandoned and alone. Almost a year into this war, our world has failed politically, but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer,’ the King said.

Source: Palestine news & Information Agency – WAFA