Safadi stresses need for end to Israeli aggression on Gaza, ‘immediate’ international response to provide aid

DEAD SEA — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stressed the need to end the Israeli aggression against Gaza and allow more humanitarian aid to enter the strip.

Safadi’s remarks were made during a joint press conference at the conclusion of the one-day conference on the “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza” that was held at the Dead Sea.

The conference saw the participation of heads of state and representatives from 96 countries and 63 regional organisations.

"The unprecedented humanitarian tragedy in Gaza must end, and there is an emphasis on the need for an effective and immediate international response to provide Gaza with all the aid it needs,” Safadi said.

He added that there is an urgent need to distribute humanitarian aid within Gaza while ensuring the protection of the international organisations responsible for delivering this aid.

“We agreed on a unified message that ending human disaster requires ending the aggression against Gaza,” Safadi told a news conference.

Safadi stated that “Israel bears full responsibility to end the aggression and open all borders to allow humanitarian aid to reach people in Gaza and stop people’s starvation there”.

“Today was an important event that witnessed a united international community that wants to see an end to Israeli aggression and lobbied for the rights of Palestinians to live in peace and dignity,” Safadi said.

He added that “Israel is violating all international laws and treaties with its aggression on Gaza and the question is how the world will react if Israel refuses to respect international laws’ obligations in the near future”.

“The international community’s credibility is at stake if Israel refuses to respect the international laws and treaties,” Safadi added.

The Jordanian foreign minister also reiterated the Kingdom’s stand against the “forced migration of Palestinians to Jordan”.

Also addressing the joint press conference was Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry who stressed that his country seeks a complete and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip.

He echoed Safadi’s remarks saying that international humanitarian law is being systematically violated in Gaza.

Therefore, Shoukry added, “The responsibility is on the international community to pressure Israel to end its aggression against Gaza and ensure the entry of humanitarian aid”.

Furthermore, Shoukry stressed that his country is working on opening all border crossings to allow humanitarian aid to reach Gaza.

Both Safadi and Shoukry reiterated their call for the establishment of a Palestinian state whereby Palestinians could live in peace and dignity.

The “Call for Action: Urgent Humanitarian Response for Gaza” conference is held at the invitation of King Abdullah, Egypt President Abdel Fattah Al Sisi and UN Secretary-General António Guterres, at the level of heads of state and government, and heads of international humanitarian and relief organisations.

Guterres also spoke during the joint press conference where he reiterated his call for the respect of international laws and for lifting the land border barriers that are preventing humanitarian aid from reaching people in need in Gaza.

He also pointed out the need to ensure the safety of UN staff who are working in Gaza.

“The number of UN staff killed in Gaza is more than the number of UN workers killed all over the world. This is shocking and devastating,” Guterres said.

“We hope that the consciousness of the international community will lobby for an immediate seize fire because this is a major step that the Palestinian people need in Gaza,” Guterres stressed.

The conference which was held at the King Hussein Bin Talal Convention Centre at the Dead Sea, seeks to identify ways to bolster the international community’s response to the humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. 

The conference also aims to outline effective measures and procedures, as well as operational and logistical needs for this purpose, while seeking commitment for a collective coordinated response to address the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the Royal Court said.

The war in Gaza, which erupted on October 7 following Hamas’s unprecedented attack on Israel, is causing extreme suffering for the entire population of over 2.3 million Palestinians across the Strip. People in war-torn Gaza face the threat of famine, and widespread trauma and suffer from a lack of access to food, water, shelter or medicine due to the Israeli blockade on the tiny Palestinian territory.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has warned that the Gaza Strip was in the midst of an “epic humanitarian catastrophe”, with the World Food Programme and other international relief organisations saying that parts of Gaza are now gripped by “a full-blown famine”.

Israel’s ensuing air and ground war on Gaza has killed over 37,000 Palestinians, the health ministry in the territory said, adding that thousands more dead are feared buried under the rubble.