Jordan recalled its ambassador to Israel on Wednesday and told Jerusalem not to return its ambassador to Amman.
The Jordanian Foreign Ministry’s letter states that the move is in protest of the “raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”
The war “carries dangerous possibilities for its expansion, which will threaten the security of the entire region and international security and peace,” it added.
Asked about Jordan’s decision during a Wednesday press briefing, Matthew Miller, the U.S. State Department spokesman, said that Washington shares “the concerns they expressed about the dire humanitarian situation in Gaza,” which is why the Biden administration is “actively leading the efforts to address that humanitarian situation.”
“But ultimately, we believe that increased diplomacy is important, and steps to reduce diplomatic channels aren’t productive to our shared goals of promoting a long-term solution to this crisis,” he said.
قرر نائب رئيس الوزراء ووزير الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين @AymanHsafadi، اليوم، استدعاء السفير الأردني في إسرائيل إلى الأردن فوراً، ووجه الصفدي الدائرة المعنية في #وزارة_الخارجية_وشؤون_المغتربين بإبلاغ وزارة الخارجية الإسرائيلية بعدم إعادة سفيرها الذي كان غادر المملكة سابقاً، تعبيراً… pic.twitter.com/67avBpelgZ
— وزارة الخارجية وشؤون المغتربين الأردنية (@ForeignMinistry) November 1, 2023
Israel declared war on Hamas in Gaza following the terrorist organization’s slaughter of more than 1,400 people in Israel on Oct. 7, wounding of more than 5,000 and taking more than 200 people hostage.
Jordan’s letter makes no mention of Hamas or the Oct. 7 massacre. It also doesn’t mention the more than 8,000 rockets terrorists in Gaza fired at Israeli civilians since Oct. 7.
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said that the return of the ambassadors would be linked to “Israel stopping its war on Gaza.”
Israel’s embassy in Jordan was evacuated at the beginning of the war at the order of Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and his director-general Ronen Levi. Israel also told its citizens to immediately leave Jordan over concerns Jews could be attacked there due to the conflict with Hamas.
Israel denounced as “despicable” a Jordanian resolution the U.N. General Assembly approved on Oct. 27 calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza but making no mention of Hamas or the fact that the Islamist terrorist organization is holding hundreds of hostages in the Strip.
Hamas praised Jordan’s nonbinding resolution and called for its immediate implementation, including the clause calling for the entry of fuel and relief materials into the Gaza Strip.
