Jordan to tell Blinken Israel must immediately stop war on Gaza

AMMAN - Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi will tell US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Amman on Saturday that Israel must end its war on Gaza where he said it was committing war crimes by bombing civilians and imposing a siege.

In a foreign ministry statement, Safadi warned that Israel's unreadiness to end the war was pushing the region rapidly towards a regional war that threatened world peace.

"Safadi will stress (to Blinken) the need to move immediately to stop the Israeli war on Gaza ... and that Israel abide by international law and stop its breaches," Safadi said.

Speaking to reporters moments before departing on his second Middle East trip in less than a month, Blinken said discussions on the future of Gaza when and if Hamas is defeated, and ways to ensure the conflict does not spread will also be areas of focus during his trip.

The conflict has stirred long-standing fears in Jordan, home to a large population of Palestinian refugees and their descendants, that a wider conflagration would give Israel the chance to implement a transfer policy to expel Palestinians en masse from the West Bank.

Jordan, which shares a border with the West Bank, absorbed the bulk of Palestinians who fled or were driven out of their homes when Israel was created in 1948.

King Abdullah on Wednesday said Israel's "military and security solution" against Palestinians would not succeed, adding the only path to a just and comprehensive Arab-Israeli peace were negotiations leading to a two-state solution.