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Queen Rania of Jordan has called out a “glaring double standard” over the western world’s collective condemnation of the Hamas attack on October 7 when compared with its response to Israel's bombing of Gaza.
Almost 6,000 Palestinians, including at least 2,300 children, have been killed by Israeli bombardments, Gaza's Health Ministry said, since Hamas attacked southern Israel on October 7, killing about 1,400 people and taking another 200 or more hostage.
Queen Rania said the military operations against Gaza, as well as calls for a ceasefire to allow aid to reach civilians there, have been met by “silence in the world”.
“The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world's reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding,” Queen Rania told CNN's Christiane Amanpour.
“In the past couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world,” Queen Rania said.
“When October 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack that happened.
“But what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks, we're seeing silence in the world.”
Israel escalated air strikes across Gaza on Tuesday as medical centres and hospitals were shut down across the enclave because of bomb damage and lack of power.
Strikes killed at least 700 people in a 24-hour spell, the Hamas-run health ministry in Gaza said on Tuesday.
Queen Rania said the western world is “complicit” in the death and destruction in Gaza.
“This is the first time in modern history that there is such human suffering and the world is not even calling for a ceasefire,” she said. “So the silence is deafening – and to many in our region, it makes the western world complicit.
“Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death? I mean, there is a glaring double standard here,” she said. “It is just shocking to the Arab world.”
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Palestinians check the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on houses in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Israeli soldiers and military vehicles near the border with Gaza. EPA -
Palestinians injured in Israeli air raids arrive at Nasser Medical Hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty Images -
Protesters call for a ceasefire and the release of hostages held by Hamas since the October 7 attack. AFP -
The protest was held near the headquarters of the Israeli Defence Ministry in Tel Aviv. AFP -
Smoke and flames rise from buildings after an Israeli strike on Gaza City. AFP -
Destruction in Gaza City after an Israeli air strike. AFP -
A wounded Palestinian is taken into Al Shifa hospital after Israeli air strikes on Gaza City. AP -
Israelis at a cemetery in Holon during a funeral take cover as a siren warns of incoming rockets fired from the Gaza Strip. AP -
Posters of hostages abducted by Hamas form part of an installation consisting of 224 light pillars erected by the Jerusalem municipality outside Teddy Stadium. AFP -
Supporters of Palestine hold a rally in New York's financial district to demand that American financial institutions stop financing weapons manufacturing. AFP -
Army rescue crews assess the damage after a rocket fired from the Gaza Strip hit a building in Rishon LeTsiyon, Israel. Getty Images -
Israeli strikes as seen from a tent camp sheltering displaced Palestinians. Reuters -
Israeli armoured vehicles take part in an operation, as the conflict between Israel and Hamas continues, at a location given as the northern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
A Palestinian man is comforted as he mourns the death of his daughter and his wife, who were killed by Israeli strikes. Reuters -
Satellite view of damaged areas in the Beit Hanoun district of Gaza as a result of fighting between Israel and Hamas. Reuters -
Beit Hanoun was hit by Israeli missiles. Reuters -
Two brothers on a stretcher after being rescued from beneath the rubble of a destroyed area in Gaza. EPA -
Israeli security forces gather along a cordoned-off street where an apartment building was hit by a rocket fired from Gaza, in Rishon LeZion, near Tel Aviv. AFP -
Rescuers in front of an apartment building hit by a rocket in the Israeli city of Rishon LeZion. AFP -
Red Crescent Society employees and volunteers handle humanitarian aid bound for Gaza at a warehouse in Arish, Egypt. EPA -
Men lower one of the coffins during the funeral of British-Israelis Lianne Sharabi and her daughters Noiya Sharabi, 16, and Yahel Sharabi, 13, in Kfar Harif, Israel. EPA -
An Israeli soldier in a ruined house in the kibbutz of Beeri, near the border with Gaza. EPA -
The aftermath of wide-scale strikes, which Israel says struck Hamas emergency operational apparatus, including war rooms, infrastructure and military headquarters, in Gaza. Reuters -
Palestinians search for casualties after Israeli attacks on houses in Khan Younis in the southern Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Rescuers look for casualties in Khan Younis. Reuters -
Palestinian Ali Daba and his wife have separated their children and given them bracelets to help identify them in case they are killed in Israeli strikes. Their daughter shows her bracelet at their shelter in Khan Younis. Reuters -
In Tel Aviv, teddy bears with their eyes covered and signs of injury go on show to highlight the young children and babies missing, believed to be being held by Hamas. Getty -
Palestinians near the rubble of a building following overnight Israeli strikes on the Rafah refugee camp in the southern Gaza Strip. AFP -
Members of the Palestine Red Crescent Society distribute aid in Deir Al Balah, in the Gaza Strip. Reuters -
Pro-Israel, left, and pro-Palestine protesters face off during a demonstration in reaction to the Gaza conflict, in central Atlanta, Georgia. EPA -
Orit Meir, the mother of Almog Meir Jan who was taken hostage by Hamas while attending the Nova festival in Israel, at the family's home in Or Yehuda. Reuters -
A soldier puts on protective gear in Ramle, Israel, as he prepares to identify those killed by Hamas during the October 7 attack. Getty Images -
Palestinians wounded in Israeli air strikes arrive at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza. Getty Images -
US Secretary of State Antony Blinken, centre, speaks with the father of one of the hostages held by Hamas, before a UN Security Council meeting in New York. EPA -
French President Emmanuel Macron, left, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas attend a meeting in the occupied West Bank city of Ramallah. EPA -
Survivors of Israel's bombardment of Gaza being treated at a trauma ward at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis. AFP -
Smoke rises after an air strike on Gaza, as seen from southern Israel. Reuters -
A woman holds placards identifying one of the Israeli hostages held by Hamas during a demonstration in Tel Aviv. AFP
Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir vowed on Tuesday to continue to arm Israelis ahead of an expected invasion of Gaza.
Mr Ben-Gvir has ordered his ministry to distribute 10,000 assault rifles across the country and encouraged Israelis to sign up for civil “security units”.
“We have established more than 500 standby units and have so far distributed approximately 5,000 assault rifles to police volunteers,” he said on X. “We continue to arm the people of Israel.”
Queen Rania said the people of Jordan were united in their grief over the number of deaths in Gaza.
“I cannot begin to describe to you the depth of the grief, the pain, and the shock that we are feeling here in Jordan,” she said.
“All of us are united in this grief, regardless of our origin. We just can’t believe the images that we’re seeing every single day coming out of Gaza.
“As a mother, we've seen Palestinian mothers who have to write the names of their children on their hands because the chances of them being shelled to death, of their bodies turning into corpses are so high,” she said.
“I just want to remind the world that Palestinian mothers love their children just as much as any other mother in the world. And for them to have to go through this is just unbelievable.”
