‘Jordan Will Not be a Battlefield For Anyone…’ – Ayman Safadi

Jordan’s Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi, Wednesday, called for immediate and effective international action to halt the dangerous escalation pushing the region toward an all-out war.

He emphasized the necessity of achieving an immediate and lasting ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and ending Israel’s escalatory measures in the occupied West Bank.

In a telephone conversation with British Foreign Secretary David Lammy, Safadi stressed no one has an interest in driving the region into a full-scale war that would threaten regional and international security and peace.

He underscored that halting this escalation must be a regional and international priority.

Safadi stated that de-escalation begins with stopping Israeli aggression on Gaza and Lebanon, warning of the catastrophic consequences of expanding the Israeli war to Lebanon and launching a ground offensive, which would impact the security of the entire region.

He affirmed during the call that Jordan will not be a battlefield for anyone and will confront with all its capabilities any threat to its security, stability, and the safety of its citizens.

He noted that Jordan has clearly communicated this position to both Iran and Israel.

Safadi highlighted the importance of supporting the initiative of Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati, which aligns with the proposal put forward by U.S. President Joe Biden and French President Emmanuel Macron.

The initiative confirms Lebanon’s commitment to deploying its army in the south, implementing UN Security Council Resolution 1701, and initiating the process of electing a Lebanese president once a ceasefire is achieved.

He reaffirmed Jordan’s absolute support for Lebanon, its security, sovereignty, and the safety of its citizens, stressing the need to launch an international campaign to provide humanitarian aid to Lebanon, which is facing the challenge of meeting the needs of more than one million displaced persons forced from their homes.

Safadi confirmed that Jordan, under the directives of His Majesty King Abdullah II, has begun sending aid to Lebanon and is ready to cooperate with all countries in delivering their assistance.

He warned of the consequences of the continued Israeli aggression on Gaza and the worsening humanitarian catastrophe it is causing, stressing the need to pressure Israel to comply with international law, allow sufficient and immediate aid into Gaza, and enable UN and humanitarian organizations to distribute it to all those in need.

Safadi and Lammy discussed regional and international efforts aimed at ending the escalation and affirmed continued cooperation in efforts to achieve a ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and protect the region from sliding into a comprehensive war.

They also followed up on the discussions that His Majesty King Abdullah II and British Labour Party Leader Keir Starmer had during a phone call Tuesday, according to the Jordan news agency, Petra.

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Legal Experts Condemn Biden’s Comments on Nasrallah’s Assassination

Legal experts slam US President Joe Biden for making a comment praising the assassination of Hassan Nasrallah. Saturday.

The White House issued a statement praising Israel’s assassination of the Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah, calling it “a measure of justice” for the victims of Hezbollah’s actions, including Americans, Israelis, and Lebanese civilians according to the Quds News Network.

The assassination, carried out by Israeli airstrikes, has killed dozens of civilians in addition to Nasrallah and threatens a full-scale regional war.

The statement has sparked sharp criticism from legal experts who argue that the endorsement of extrajudicial killings undermines international law. legal scholars and human rights advocates have expressed concern over Biden’s framing of the operation, calling it a dangerous precedent that disregards the rule of law.

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Nasrallah: ‘No Lebanon-Gaza Separation’

CEOSSFIREARABIA – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his military establishment led by Chief of Staff Herzi Halevi are determined to separate the Lebanese and the Gaza fronts. 

To do that the Israelis are bombing Lebanon in all sorts of directions  right, left and center, in the south of the country, its east and of course, southern Beirut – considered the prime Hezbollah stronghold – as hard as they can to achieve their illusive objectives which are nowhere near to being realized.

Israeli air raids, bombings, killing of civilians and murder of claimed Hezbollah fighters have increased in the last 48 hours with death knocking on the door of the Lebanese. Last Monday alone Israeli warplanes killed 274 people and injured 1024 in 1100 air raids all over Lebanon with the number of those killed rising daily.

But in contrast, Hezbollah attacks – through missiles and drones – have been tough on northern Israel including its cities like Haifa, Tel Aviv, in the Galilee, Safad, Jewish colonies/settlements  and military bases have continued non-stop where reports of fires, deaths and hundreds of thousands hiding in underground shelters.

Secretary-general Hassan Nasrallah has been very clear in his approach. In this escalation which started last week through the so-called pager and wireless massacre when Israeli killed around 3000 people in the southern neighborhood of Beirut, Hezbollah quickly regrouped and started firing on the north and center of Israel in unexpected moves.

He said there will be no separation between the Lebanese and Gaza fronts until the Israeli military machine stops bombing Gaza once-and-for-all. Hezbollah and Gaza has long become an unparalleled equation, he maintains. The war must stop in Gaza so that Fadi I, Fadi II and more recently Fadi III as well as more missiles stop landing on the different and sensitive areas of Israel.

However he tried to be reasonable saying that if a settlement is reached within the Palestinian groups and be acceptable to them his party would stop firing on Israel. Nasarallah couldn’t be more clearer than that.

Meanwhile the ‘trading over the border escalation’ between Hezbollah and the Israeli warplanes continues with missile swaps and bombs continuing. Despite the war utterings from certain quarters, Israel doesn’t want a northern front as their leaders keep saying and is not expected to start a ground troop offensive into southern Lebanon because of what is being termed as their ‘debilitating’ ability and exhaustion of their soldiers after their nearly 12 months of fighting in Gaza. 

But in this respect too, Nasrallah has been clear too saying if the Israeli army wants to enter south Lebanon, Hezbollah would be ready for them, going all the way of inviting them to invade and see the real force of the resistance in Lebanon that had been fighting Israel, albeit on a ‘low level’ since Israel started its war and onslaught on the Gaza Strip soon after 7 October, 2023. 

All indications suggest Israeli will not be able to separate this front from the Gaza one. Though Israeli planes are in a state of bombing momentum believing if they bomb certain regions of Lebanon fiercely enough, and aim to kill their top caders by bombing south Beirut, Hezbollah will eventually give up by themselves and wrap up the war.

But the situation is particularly fluid, neither side is budging from their positions. With Hezbollah termed to be recruiting 40,000 fighters from Iraq, Syria and Yemen, it insists that this front is their to support Gaza while Netanyahu refuses to accept a ceasefire deal on the enclave.

Both parties are in “military deadlock”, while a third party, the Biden administration, is walking in the middle. Its officials right from US president Joe Biden, Secretary of State Antony Blinken and other lowley staff stated many times they want a deal on Gaza, and don’t want the war to spread to the region, to Lebanon, possibly Iraq, Syria and even Yemen which have been up till now low key operators.

In this war first on Gaza, and now developing into Lebanon, the US has been a constant behind-the-scene player, politicking in Lebanon through its special envoy and Qatar and Egypt acting as mediators in the past months to work a ceasefire that didn’t work mainly through Israeli intransigence, Washington must take much of the blame.  

This is because Washington has been a constant supplier of weapons to the Israelis in this war right after 7 October, 2023 through an active air and sea bridge to Tel Aviv. It has, till this day, been providing Israeli with technical advice on the conduct of the war with at least 2000 US military personell and many would argue, the United States has not been forceful enough with Netanyahu who worked to disrupt the talks and make sure the war on Gaza continues.

With the war switching to the Lebanese-Israeli border, it seems that the US would continue to supply Israel with weapons, increase its intransigence even further, keep up the Hamas-Hezbollah ante up and suck the regional into an even bigger regional war.

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No Ceasefire Deal Before Biden Leaves Office!

Senior U.S. officials have privately acknowledged they don’t expect a Gaza ceasefire agreement to be reached before the end of President Biden’s term in January 2025, the Wall Street Journal reported on Thursday.

The newspaper cited top-level officials in the White House, State Department and Pentagon without naming them according to the Quds News Network.

“No deal is imminent,” one of the U.S. officials said. “I’m not sure it ever gets done.”

Officials cited two main reasons for the pessimism.

The two obstacles that have been especially difficult: Israel’s demand to keep forces in the Philadelphi Corridor between Gaza and Egypt and the specifics of an exchange deal of Israeli captives for Palestinian prisoners held by Israel.

As a result, the mood inside the administration and in the Middle East is as gloomy as it has been in months, the newspaper said.

National security adviser Jake Sullivan met Wednesday with the relatives of the remaining seven American captives held in Gaza, telling them that securing their release was a top priority for Biden. But a statement from the families said they “expressed frustration with the lack of tangible progress” to Sullivan, urging the administration to make a deal as soon as possible.

John Kirby, the National Security Council spokesman, told reporters Wednesday the prospects of a completed deal were “daunting,” and though the administration signaled for months that a deal was near, said, “we aren’t any closer to that now than we were even a week ago.”

One of the officials said “it would be irresponsible” for the administration to give up seeking an agreement that brings at least temporary relief to the region. But the official also signaled frustration with the Israelis and Hamas.

“As we’ve said from the outset, it is going to require leadership and compromise,” the official said, “and we urge all sides to demonstrate it.”

“I can tell you that we do not believe that deal is falling apart,” Pentagon spokesperson Sabrina Singh told reporters on Thursday before the report was published.

U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said two weeks ago that 90% of a ceasefire deal had been agreed upon.

The United States and mediators Qatar and Egypt have for months attempted to secure a ceasefire but have failed to bring Israel and Hamas to a final agreement.

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US Must Stop Funding Netanyahu’s War on Gaza

The US should stop funding Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s war in the Gaza Strip, Senator Bernie Sanders said Wednesday.

“This week: 19 people killed & scores injured in a strike in a ‘humanitarian zone’ in Gaza. An American shot in the head in the West Bank. Now, another school bombed, killing 14 people, including 6 UN aid workers.

“Enough is enough. No more money for Netanyahu’s war machine,” Sanders said on X according to Anadolu.

Israel forces killed Turkish American activist Aysenur Ezgi Eygi, 26, during a protest last Friday against illegal Israeli settlements in the town of Beita outside of Nablus.

While Eygi’s killing provoked a worldwide reaction, US President Joe Biden called the shooting of Eygi by an Israeli sniper an “accident,” adding the bullet apparently “ricocheted off the ground, and she got hit.”

Later, Biden, who has not spoken with her family to offer his condolences yet, said he was “outraged and deeply saddened” by the killing, adding: “There must be full accountability. And Israel must do more to ensure that incidents like this never happen again.”

Sanders has long criticized the Biden administration for providing support to Israel in its ongoing war in the besieged Gaza Strip, where more than 41,000 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since last Oct. 7.

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