Jordan: Drug Smuggling Attempts via Syria Persist

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at a press conference after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan (Reuters)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at a press conference after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan (Reuters)
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Jordan: Drug Smuggling Attempts via Syria Persist

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at a press conference after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan (Reuters)
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi at a press conference after a meeting of Arab foreign ministers in Amman, Jordan (Reuters)

Jordan's Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi announced that drug smuggling attempts continue across the Syrian border, according to the Arab World News Agency.

Speaking at the virtual ministerial meeting to Launch the Global Coalition to Address Synthetic Drugs in Washington, Safadi said that Jordan confiscated over 65 million Captagon pills during the past two years.

The US Secretary of State Antony Blinken hosted the virtual Ministerial-level meeting to provide the foundation to combine efforts and prevent the production and trafficking of illicit synthetic drugs, identify emerging drug trends and use patterns, and respond to their public health impacts.

Safadi said that forming the coalition is essential in addressing the escalating threat of industrial drugs.

He called for cooperation in providing border protection technology and exchanging intelligence information in confronting the drug threat, which requires a joint international effort.

Last month, the Jordanian Armed Forces announced that it had shot down a drone carrying narcotics from Syrian territory.

Combating drug smuggling and dumping in the Jordanian market topped Jordan's priorities in recent talks in Amman, with the participation of the foreign ministers of Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Syria, and Iraq.

In a statement after the meeting, Syria agreed to help prevent drug trafficking, work to identify drug traffickers and cooperate with Jordan and Iraq to end trafficking.

Last May, according to press reports, Jordan launched an air strike targeting the most prominent strongholds of drug smuggling and manufacturing in southern Syria, killing a Syrian drug smuggler.



Gaza Health Ministry Reports 51 Deaths from Israeli Strikes, Bringing Overall Toll to Over 52,000

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
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Gaza Health Ministry Reports 51 Deaths from Israeli Strikes, Bringing Overall Toll to Over 52,000

Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo
Palestinians search for casualties at the site of an Israeli strike on a house, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas, in Nuseirat refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip, May 14, 2024. REUTERS/Ramadan Abed/File Photo

Hospitals in the Gaza Strip received the remains of 51 Palestinians over the past 24 hours who were killed in Israeli strikes, the local Health Ministry said Sunday, bringing the Palestinian death toll from the 18-month-old Israel-Hamas war to 52,243.

The overall toll includes nearly 700 bodies for which the documentation process was recently completed, the ministry said in its latest update. The daily toll includes bodies retrieved from the rubble after earlier strikes.

Israel ended its ceasefire with Hamas by launching a surprise bombardment on March 18, and has been carrying out daily waves of strikes since then. Ground forces have expanded a buffer zone and encircled the southern city of Rafah, and now control around 50% of the territory.

Israel has also sealed off the territory's 2 million Palestinians from all imports, including food and medicine, for nearly 60 days. Aid groups say supplies will soon run out and that thousands of children are malnourished, The AP news reported.

Israeli authorities say the renewed offensive and tightened blockade are aimed at pressuring Hamas to release hostages abducted in its Oct. 7, 2023r Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has vowed to continue the war until Hamas is destroyed or disarmed, and all the hostages are returned.

Hamas has said it will only release the remaining 59 hostages — 24 of whom are believed to be alive — in exchange for Palestinian prisoners, a lasting ceasefire and a full Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, as called for in the now-defunct ceasefire reached in January.

Gaza's Health Ministry says women and children make up most of the Palestinian deaths, but does not say how many were militants or civilians. It says another 117,600 people have been wounded in the war.

The overall tally includes 2,151 dead and 5,598 wounded since Israel resumed the war last month.

Israel says it has killed around 20,000 militants, without providing evidence. The military says it tries to avoid harming civilians and it blames Hamas for their deaths because the militants operate in densely populated areas.

Israel's offensive has destroyed vast parts of Gaza and displaced around 90% of its population, leaving hundreds of thousands of people sheltering in squalid tent camps or bombed-out buildings.