Jordan announced today, Monday, that it is keeping all options open in response to what it described as Israel's failure to distinguish between military and civilian targets in its intensive bombing and invasion of the Gaza Strip. Prime Minister Bisher Al-Khasawneh did not clarify the other steps Jordan would take after recalling its ambassador from Israel a few days ago in protest against the bombing that Israel launched on Gaza following the Hamas attack on October 7.
Last week, Jordan declared that it would not allow the Israeli ambassador, who left Amman shortly after the Hamas attack, to return to resume his duties for the time being, stating that he is a unwanted person. Al-Khasawneh, whose country signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, told official media that all options are on the table for Jordan in dealing with what he described as Israeli aggression on Gaza and its repercussions. He noted that the blockade imposed by Israel on the densely populated sector is not self-defense as claimed.
He added that the Israeli attack does not distinguish between civilian and military targets, extending to safe areas and ambulances. Israel denied intentionally targeting civilian sites in densely populated areas, asserting that Hamas uses civilians as human shields, digs tunnels under hospitals, and uses ambulances to transport its fighters.
Diplomats familiar with Jordan's mindset indicated that the country is reassessing its economic, security, and political relations with Israel and is even considering suspending further steps in implementing the peace treaty if the bloodshed in Gaza escalates. The war between Israel and Hamas has rekindled long-standing fears in Jordan, which hosts a large number of Palestinian refugees, that Israel may seize the opportunity to collectively expel Palestinians from the occupied West Bank, where attacks by Israeli settlers on Palestinians have increased since the Hamas attack.
These fears have heightened since the Israeli coalition government, which is of the religious nationalist trend and considered the most right-wing government ever, assumed power last year, with some extremists adopting the principle that Jordan is Palestine. Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi stated that any move to transfer Palestinians to Jordan, which shares borders with the West Bank, is a "red line" tantamount to a declaration of war. Safadi added last week that Jordan will confront any attempt by Israel to expel Palestinians in an effort to change the geography and demographics. Security sources reported that the Jordanian army has already fortified its positions along the border.
