Jordanian Military, Security Observers Expect Gaza Conflict to 'Inevitability' Expand

Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi at the 19th IISS Manama Dialogue (Reuters)
Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi at the 19th IISS Manama Dialogue (Reuters)
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Jordanian Military, Security Observers Expect Gaza Conflict to 'Inevitability' Expand

Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi at the 19th IISS Manama Dialogue (Reuters)
Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi at the 19th IISS Manama Dialogue (Reuters)

Jordan Foreign Minister Ayman al-Safadi asserted that Arab forces will not be deployed in Gaza after the end of the war.

Several reports discussed proposals regarding the fate of Gaza after the Israeli aggression, including the deployment of Arab forces to establish stability and the Palestinian Authority (PA) managing the Strip.

However, the Foreign Minister said during the 19th IISS Manama Dialogue that after discussing this issue with "almost all our brethren, there'll be no Arab troops going to Gaza. None. We're not going to be seen as the enemy."

"How could anybody talk about the future of Gaza when we do not know what kind of Gaza will be left once this aggression ends?"

The White House's National Security Council coordinator for the Middle East, Brett McGurk, and EU foreign policy chief Josep Borrell attended the security summit.

An informed political source in Amman told Asharq Al-Awsat that Jordan sends pre-emptive stances to test the future of Gaza, according to Israeli plans to impose a new administration after eliminating Hamas.

He said such positions portray Jordan's rejection of the Israeli scenarios about reoccupying parts of the Strip, displacing all residents of northern Gaza, and rejecting any proposals related to the deployment of Arab forces in Gaza after the end of the war.

Jordan fears the expansion of the humanitarian catastrophe and siege in the Strip. Military and security observers believe it would inevitably lead to an increase in the conflict and a deterioration of the security situation in the West Bank.

In light of mounting popular pressure and anticipation of the parliamentary review of the agreements between Amman and Tel Aviv, Safadi announced on Thursday the cessation of talks on the energy-for-water deal with Israel.

During a televised interview, the Minister said Jordan won't sign a deal to provide energy to Israel in water exchange, which was planned to be ratified last month.

"We [Jordan] signed the peace agreement in 1994 as part of a wider Arab effort to establish a two-state solution. That has not been achieved. Instead, Israel has not upheld its part of the agreement. So the peace deal will have to remain on the back burner, gathering dust for now," he said.

Jordanian political observers informed Asharq Al-Awsat of their estimates that Israel plans to impose a policy of displacing Gazans through the expansion of force and the continued targeting of civilians in preparation for the occupation of parts of the enclave.

The Israeli plan aims to prevent Benjamin Netanyahu's government from confronting the public after stopping the war on Gaza.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Ministry in Amman is witnessing several meetings with Western officials to address the escalatory Jordanian positions, especially after talking about "putting all possibilities" in confronting the Israeli aggression on Gaza and undermining opportunities for resuming peace efforts in the region.

Western officials are concerned about freezing the peace agreement Jordan concluded with Israel in 1994.



Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
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Israeli Troops Battle Palestinian Fighters in Gaza City of Khan Younis

 Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)
Smoke rises following Israeli strikes during an Israeli military operation, amid Israel-Hamas conflict, in Khan Younis, in the southern Gaza Strip, July 24, 2024. (Reuters)

Israeli troops battled Palestinian fighters in Khan Younis in southern Gaza and destroyed tunnels and other infrastructure, as they sought to suppress small militant units that have continued to hit troops with mortar fire, the military said on Friday.

The Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) said troops had killed around 100 Palestinian fighters since Israeli troops began their latest operation in Khan Younis on Monday, which continued as pressure mounted for a deal to halt the fighting.

It said seven small units that had been firing mortars at the troops were hit in an air strike, while further south, in Rafah, four fighters were also killed in air strikes.

The Islamic Jihad armed wing said it fired rockets toward the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon and other Israeli towns near Gaza. No casualties were reported, the Israeli ambulance service said.

The continued fighting, more than nine months since the start of Israel's invasion of Gaza following the Oct. 7 attack, underlined the difficulty the IDF has had in eliminating fighters who have reverted to a form of guerrilla warfare in the ruins of the coastal strip.

A Telegram channel operated by the armed wings of Hamas and Islamic Jihad, the two main militant groups in Gaza, said fighters had been waging fierce battles with Israeli troops east of Khan Younis with machine guns, mortars and anti-tank weapons.

Medics said at least six Palestinians were killed in Israeli strikes in eastern Khan Younis.

US PRESSURE

US President Joe Biden, and Vice President Kamala Harris, the presumptive Democratic Party nominee for president, both urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to agree to a proposed ceasefire deal as soon as possible.

However there has been no clear sign of movement in talks to end the fighting and bring home some 115 Israeli and foreign hostages still being held in Gaza. Public statements from Israel and Hamas appear to indicate that serious differences remain between the two sides.

Local residents contacted by messenger app, said Israeli tanks had pushed into three towns to the east of Khan Younis, Bani Suhaila, Al-Zanna and Al-Karara and blew up several houses in some residential districts.

The military said air force jets hit around 45 targets, including tunnels and two launch pads from which rockets were fired into Beersheba in southern Israel.

Even while the fighting continued around Khan Younis and Rafah in the south, in the northern part of the enclave, Israeli tanks pushed into the Tel Al-Hawa suburb west of Gaza city, residents said.

A Hamas Telegram channel said fighters targeted an Israeli tank in Tal Al-Hawa and shot an Israeli soldier.

Medics said two Palestinians were also killed in an air strike in western Gaza city.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed in the fighting in Gaza, according to local health authorities, who do not distinguish between fighters and non-combatants.

Israeli officials estimate that some 14,000 fighters from armed groups including Hamas and Islamic Jihad, have been killed or taken prisoner, out of a force they estimated to number more than 25,000 at the start of the war.