Jordanian Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Thursday that the world has failed miserably to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza and the West Bank, despite the passage of a year since this title, which must stop immediately.

Safadi, who held a joint press conference with Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), following the conclusion of a "high-level" meeting on the agency, the importance of the role it plays, and the necessity of its continuation, said that Israel is a rogue state because it acts as if it is above the law, and does not abide by international standards, or even the advice and guidance of its friends, who have been urging it to abide by international laws without it heeding these calls, which has plunged the region into a new war front on a new front in Lebanon, which is quickly getting out of control and rolling towards a wide regional war.

The "high-level" periodic meeting included the Arab League, all members of the Security Council, and UNRWA to discuss the dilemma the agency is going through, and to examine the available means to ensure the continuation of its work, including funding and empowerment.

Al-Safadi pointed out the invalidity of the smear campaign launched by Israel against UNRWA regarding stopping its work and preventing it from providing humanitarian assistance to the Palestinians who are in dire need of it, including clean drinking water, food, medicine, and the right to learn in the agency’s schools, or to seek health care in its clinics and hospitals, exposing the agency and its staff to persecution and killing and its institutions to destruction.

In response to a question from the Jerusalem correspondent regarding the nature of the efforts being made by the Jordanian government with the US government and US legislators who are working to include UNRWA on the terrorism lists in order to criminalize it, Safadi said: “We are in constant contact with the US government and its various agencies, including the legislative branch, to prove the importance and integrity of the role played by UNRWA in providing essential aid to the Palestinians and the necessity of continuing its support, especially since the United States is the largest donor to the agency.”

It is noteworthy that last March the US Congress froze US aid until next March (2025) pending an investigation into Israeli allegations that UNRWA employees contributed to the Hamas movement’s attack on Israel on October 7, which was proven false.

In turn, Lazzarini stressed that UNRWA is carrying out a very important relief mission, and is working according to an international mandate, not only in Gaza, but also in the occupied West Bank, Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, warning that there are now 300,000 students in schools affiliated with the agency, who are not going to their schools now, for the second year.

On Thursday morning, an informal, closed high-level meeting was held between the members of the Security Council, the Arab League and the Arab Troika (Saudi Arabia, Iraq and Bahrain) in the presence of Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit to discuss common issues. After the meeting, Secretary-General António Guterres and Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of Slovenia, who chaired the meeting in her country’s capacity as President of the Security Council for this month, spoke about the closed meeting to accredited press.

Fayon expressed the importance of the meeting, as participants expressed their concern about developments in the Middle East, especially the spread of violence from Gaza to the West Bank to Lebanon. She said that she addressed the members of the Council, saying: “Use your powers, use the international presence to pressure Israel to respect international resolutions and withdraw from the occupied territories.” She said that the world is now in the House of Peace and the important word here is peace, but this word is absent from the Middle East, which is going through a period of terror. She added: “We must push for respect for the Security Council resolutions, and work to find a political solution because this conflict will not be resolved militarily.” She said that she hopes that all countries will follow the example of her country, Slovenia, in dealing with the Palestinian issue and recognize Palestine as an independent and sovereign state.

For his part, the Secretary-General of the Arab League, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, said that the closed meeting between the members of the Security Council, the Arab League and the Arab Troika was positive and constructive. An open and frank dialogue took place between the participants in the meeting, where the four Arab representatives spoke in the session and expressed their support for the French-American initiative to declare a temporary ceasefire for at least 21 days. He said: “Some members called for recognition of the State of Palestine, especially those who have not yet recognized the State of Palestine.” He added: “In the end, the Arab delegation reiterated that the Arab world is still committed to the 2002 Arab Initiative, which is based on a fundamental principle: land for peace - that is, withdrawal from the occupied territories in exchange for recognition and normalization.” Aboul Gheit said that other issues discussed in the meeting included support for UNRWA and thinking about the “day after” the war on Gaza.