Jordan's King Abdullah pledges continued support for Gaza amid domestic pressures

Hamas-Israel war has affected the kingdom's economy and posed societal challenges

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King Abdullah II of Jordan vowed on Monday to continue support for beleaguered Palestinians in Gaza as the war between Hamas and Israel raises political and economic pressures on the kingdom.

In a speech to what is mostly a staunchly loyalist parliament, which was elected in September, the king said Jordan will remain by the Palestinian people's side, having been among the first "to deliver aid by air and land to people in Gaza".

The kingdom of 11 million has a peace treaty with Israel and a defence pact with the US, on which it depends for financial and military assistance. King Abdullah, who has ruled Jordan since 1999, is the fourth monarch in the Hashemite dynasty since the kingdom was founded as a British protectorate in 1921. The monarchy has acted as a balancer between two main population components – descendants of Palestinian refugees and tribes that existed since the kingdom was founded – contributing to uninterrupted stability since the ousting of the Palestine Liberation Organisation from Jordan in a civil war in 1970.

At the beginning of the year, Jordan, along with allied countries, started delivering aid to Gaza by parachuting parcels into the strip from military planes. The kingdom has also received some wounded civilians and became an assembly point for donors and international organisations sending aid to Gaza by land. The aid is inspected for dual-purpose materials and contraband, although Israel has placed restrictions on the flows.

"Jordan has exerted tremendous efforts and Jordanians have valiantly been treating the wounded in the direst of circumstances," the king said.

In apparent reference to suggestions by ultranationalist Israeli politicians that Palestinians should be expelled from the occupied West Bank to the kingdom, thus altering the demographic balance in both areas, he said Jordan is a "state that does not risk its future" and has "a deep-rooted identity".

Jordan, he said, "will remain a country blessed with its people and land, an honest Arab homeland". A large proportion of its population are descendants of Palestinian refugees who fled their homeland when Israel was created in 1948 and when it expanded in 1967 by occupying the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

At the UN General Assembly in New York in September, King Abdullah said Jordan would not become an “alternative homeland” and any forced displacement of Palestinians would be a war crime.

He told parliament that a just peace "is the way to end the historical injustice against" Palestinians and that Jordan is committed to achieving it "despite the obstacles and the extremism of those who do not believe in peace".

The kingdom signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994. Despite strong criticism by the king of Israel's war conduct in Gaza, Jordan has abided by the treaty and the security guarantees at its core, which obliges each country to prevent threats to each other's security.

Jordanian security forces have prevented people from mounting pro-Palestinian demonstrations near the border with Israel and have placed curbs on protests elsewhere in the country, particularly near western interests. This year, infiltration attempts into Israel from Jordan have increased, although most have failed. Last month, Israeli forces shot dead two members of the Jordanian Muslim Brotherhood who had tried to mount a cross-border raid near the Dead Sea.

The International Monetary Fund expects economic growth this year to fall to 2.4 per cent, from 2.6 per cent in 2023, partly because the effects of the war have hit tourism, a main foreign currency earner.

The Gaza war is seen widely as a main factor behind gains by the religious opposition in the elections to the 138-seat parliament, although pro-government tribal deputies remain dominant. All significant power in Jordan lies with the king.