Jordan's King Abdullah opposes Israeli reoccupation of Gaza

The kingdom has been fiercely critical of the Israeli response to the Hamas attack on October 7

Jordan's King Abdullah during his meeting with officials in Amman, on November 13, 2023. Royal Court/Reuters

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Jordan rejects any outcome of the Israel-Gaza war that results in the "reoccupation" of the area, King Abdullah said on Monday, repeating warnings he had made about a regional "explosion".

The king was speaking days after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expected Israel to take "overall security responsibility" in Gaza when it deposed Hamas in the war that started on October 7.

A large part of Jordan's 10 million population are of Palestinian origin.

The kingdom has been fiercely critical of the Israeli operation in Gaza, which is in its fifth week.

The two US allies signed a peace treaty in 1994 and have security co-operation, as well as $150 million in bilateral trade.

King Abdullah told officials that "any scenario … to reoccupy parts of Gaza or setting up a buffer zones in it will compound the crisis", and be "an aggression against Palestinian rights", official television reported.

He said that Israeli "violations" and settler violence in the West Bank and Jerusalem "will push the situation in the region towards exploding and the conflict to spread.

The king called for the war to be stopped and "a serious political process launched, leading to the two-state solution".

"The solution starts from there. Any other track will result in failure and more cycles of violence and destruction," the station quoted King Abdullah as saying.

Jordan airdrops aid to Gaza hospital for second time in a week - video

Earlier on Monday, Jordan's Parliament voted unanimously for its legal committee to review past agreements with Israel, including the 1994 peace treaty, according to official media.

Parliament has no say over foreign policy in Jordan, where all significant powers are with the king.

On November 1, Jordan recalled its ambassador in Israel to protest against "the Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza”, the Foreign Ministry said.

The war started with a surprise attack by Hamas, the militant group supported by Iran, on southern Israel.

Jordanian authorities expelled Hamas leadership in 1999 to Qatar, citing security reasons, but maintains channels with the group.

The UN considers Gaza to be occupied territory, despite the Israeli pullout from the area in 2005.

Hamas took control of Gaza from President Mahmoud Abbas's Fatah after a civil war between 2006 and 2007.