From the Liveblog of
Monday, October 7, 2024
In Beirut, Jordanian FM says Israel’s war with Hezbollah pushing region into abyss
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Jordan’s top diplomat slams Israel’s war with the Hezbollah terror group in Lebanon, saying it is pushing the Middle East into the “abyss of full-scale regional war.”
“We are facing a disaster and a dangerous escalation that threatens the region,” says Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. “Israel bears responsibility of this aggression, the escalation in the region, and any new escalation that the region faces.”
He speaks in a news conference following a meeting with Lebanese caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati in Beirut.
Safadi says that Jordan backs the Lebanese government’s initiative to elect a new president and commitment to implement the UN Security Council resolution that ended Israel’s last war with Hezbollah in 2006 and that would keep southern Lebanon exclusively under the control of the Lebanese military and UN peacekeepers.
Israel stepped up its conflict with Hezbollah, which has been firing rockets into Israel since October 8, in a bid to push the terror group away from the border and allow evacuated Israeli citizens to return to their homes.
He adds that Jordan, like Lebanon, backed an initiative by the United States and France for a three-week ceasefire in Lebanon.
Meanwhile, as the region braces for an Israeli retaliation for Iran’s missile attack, Safadi said Jordan rejects either country using its airspace in their hostilities.
“We will not a battlefield for anyone,” he said. “We made this message clear to Iran and to Israel as well.”
The Times of Israel Community.