Jordan severs diplomatic ties with Israel over Gaza conflict

In protest of Israel’s bombardment of Gaza, Jordan said on Wednesday that it had summoned its ambassador from Israel and told the Israeli ambassador to leave, citing the attacks’ deaths of innocent people and catastrophic humanitarian effects. The ambassador would only return to Tel Aviv if Israel halted its war on the enclave and ended “the humanitarian crisis it has caused,” Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said. “This is to express Jordan’s stance that rejects and condemns the Israeli war on Gaza that kills innocents and is causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe,” Safadi said in a statement carried on state media. According to Safadi, the decision was also made because Israel was denying the Palestinians access to food, water, and medication after it had laid siege to the enclave in response to Hamas’ devastating attack on Israel on October 7. The minister stated that the Israeli ambassador to Jordan, who departed two weeks ago due to protests, would only be permitted to return under the same restrictions. According to Safadi, Jordan was stepping up diplomatic efforts to put pressure on Israel to end the war because it posed “dangerous risks” of the conflict spreading throughout the region and endangering international peace. In a nation where pro-Palestinian sentiment is strong, many Jordanians have organised demonstrations demanding that the Israeli embassy be closed and that the unpopular peace treaty between Israel and Jordan from 1994 be abandoned. (With agency inputs)