US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken did not come to the meeting with Arab foreign ministers, in Amman on Saturday, with “decisive American commitments” towards stopping the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip and bringing in urgent relief aid.

Blinken’s statements from Amman reflected what could be described as “disappointment,” despite Jordan’s attempts officially and in Arab partnership to pressure by raising the ceiling on positions during the seven-party meeting of foreign ministers, according to informed Jordanian political sources who told Asharq Al-Awsat that the Jordanian king King Abdullah II “held the responsibility of the Arab ministers for unifying Arab demands to immediately stop the Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip,” to obtain an American commitment.

Al-Safadi

During a press conference, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi spoke about the discrepancy between the Arab and American positions. He said: “Our conversation today was frank and in-depth, reflecting different Arab and American positions regarding what must be done immediately to end this disaster,” but he also stressed “the keenness to continue engaging intensively to stop what we can only describe as a disaster whose effects will haunt the region for generations, and that We want a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution as a way to guarantee the security of the region and all its peoples.”

Al-Safadi summarized the meeting points during the meetings, which “included the necessity of delivering adequate, immediate and sustainable humanitarian support to Gaza, resuming the provision of basic services, protecting civilians, the necessity of adhering to international law and international humanitarian law, releasing civilians, and rejecting the displacement of Palestinians from their homeland,” stressing that “any Attempting to do so, for Jordan, Egypt and all Arab countries, is another war crime that we will confront with all our capabilities.”

He stressed the necessity of “an immediate ceasefire and an end to this war,” rejecting “the characterization of the war as self-defense,” noting that Arab positions emphasized the necessity of immediately delivering adequate aid to the Gaza Strip and stopping the displacement of Palestinians.

Al-Safadi expressed his concern about the situation in the West Bank, where settlers are allowed to kill innocent Palestinians. He said, "Everyone must stop this madness and put an end to the loss of millions of lives."

He stressed that “murder and war crimes must stop, and Israel’s protection from international law must end... This war will not bring security to Israel and will not bring stability to the region.”

Al-Safadi stressed that the killing of children and women must stop, the war crimes committed by Israel must stop, and that Israel’s immunity from international law must end.

Blinken

Blinken, who came from Israel carrying a rejection of American proposals for a humanitarian truce, provided only brief indications regarding the existence of reasons calling for a temporary halt to military actions to deliver aid, saying: “We agreed with Israel on how to achieve this.”

The US Secretary of State pointed out that joint efforts are necessary to increase the flow of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, but at the same time he pointed out that “reaching a ceasefire now will enable the Hamas movement to gather its forces and repeat what it did on October 7.” the past".

Blinken insisted on saying that “the need to protect Palestinian civilians will not come at the expense of Washington’s support for Israel’s right to defend itself against the Hamas movement,” but “Israel must take every precaution to reduce the number of civilian casualties and conveyed to the Israelis on Friday additional steps to take in this regard.”

While Blinken spoke about the focus on providing humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and the need for a temporary halt to military actions to deliver relief materials, he said that he spent a lot of time consulting with the Israeli government, Egypt, and the United Nations to develop a channel to deliver aid to Gaza, and noted that 100 trucks are entering daily to the Gaza Strip, and that is not enough, stressing the work to expand access to humanitarian aid and ensure that it reaches those who need it and establish the necessary infrastructure to absorb, use and distribute aid.

Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry said, “The unfortunate killing events we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip cannot be justified, and we will not accept entering into a useless controversy to justify the condemned practices as self-defense.”

He called for an immediate ceasefire and for Israel to stop obstructing the entry of humanitarian aid and ensure safe and rapid access to it, calling on the international community to reach a ceasefire and prevent the continuation of violence.

Extended meeting

On Saturday, the foreign ministers of Jordan, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, Qatar, and the Secretary of the Executive Committee of the Palestine Liberation Organization, Hussein Al-Sheikh, held a meeting with US Secretary of State Anthony Blinken, in which they discussed the repercussions and ways to end the dangerous deterioration in Gaza, which threatens the security of the entire region.

During the meeting, the ministers affirmed the Arab position calling for an immediate ceasefire and the immediate and urgent delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, and the necessity of intensifying targeted efforts to launch immediate and effective international action to stop the war, ensure the protection of civilians, respect the rules of international law and international humanitarian law, and ensure the delivery of immediate humanitarian aid. And urgently for the Palestinian brothers in the Gaza Strip.

The ministers stressed the need for Israel to adhere to international legitimacy resolutions, especially the resolution presented by Jordan on behalf of the Arab Group, and adopted by the United Nations General Assembly, last week, which calls for stopping the war, ensuring the protection of civilians, and adhering to legal and humanitarian obligations.

The Ministers condemned the irresponsible actions committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip, which constitute war crimes that violate all human and moral values and international laws, especially the Fourth Geneva Convention.

King Abdullah

For his part, during his meeting with Blinken on Saturday evening, Jordanian King Abdullah II stressed the need to stop the war on Gaza and impose a humanitarian truce to sustain the arrival of aid to the Strip and ensure that the work of international humanitarian organizations is not obstructed.

King Abdullah II called for intensifying international efforts to deliver food, water, medicine and fuel to Gaza without interruption, and to support relief organizations working in the Strip, noting that the only way to end the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is to work towards a political horizon to achieve a just and comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution, warning. That military or security solutions will not succeed.

Al-Sharq Al-Awsat