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Jordan: Razzaz Pledges to Withdraw Tax Bill after Government Takes Oath

The newly appointed Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz meets with member of Union leaders in Amman, on June 7, 2018. Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP
The newly appointed Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz meets with member of Union leaders in Amman, on June 7, 2018. Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP
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Jordan: Razzaz Pledges to Withdraw Tax Bill after Government Takes Oath

The newly appointed Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz meets with member of Union leaders in Amman, on June 7, 2018. Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP
The newly appointed Jordanian Prime Minister Omar al-Razzaz meets with member of Union leaders in Amman, on June 7, 2018. Ahmad GHARABLI / AFP

Jordan’s Prime Minister-designate Omar Al-Razzaz began his consultations on Thursday to form a new cabinet, amid ongoing protests and strikes against a controversial income tax law.
 
Razzaz met with the speaker of the House of Representatives, Atef Tarawneh, underlining the need to maintain cooperation between the government and both the Senate and the Lower House in order to implement the directives and vision of King Abdullah II.
 
In remarks following the meeting, the PM-designate stressed that dialogue would be the basis of any decision over the new tax bill, saying: “We must listen to this dialogue, take immediate action to bring the situation back on track and walk together towards the future that reflects the public interest and the supreme national interest.”
 
He also said the new government’s top priority would be holding consultations with both Chambers of the Parliament and professional associations on the income tax draft law and the entire action plan of the cabinet. 
 
For his part, Tarawneh emphasized the importance of speeding work towards withdrawing the draft income tax law, pointing out that the majority of the members of the House of Representatives were against the amendments made to the law in force.
 
Also on Thursday, Razzaz met with Senate President Faisal Al Fayez and pledged to withdraw the income tax bill when the new Cabinet takes oath.
 
Fayez said he hoped the premier-designate and the new government would win the confidence of the Jordanian people and Parliament, adding that an agreement was reached that the cabinet withdraws the tax bill after the members take the oath of office.
 
He also called on the Jordanian youth to end strikes and protests, in order to prevent anyone from exploiting the situation and harming the country, “especially after we began witnessing an escalation in protests, despite the resignation of the government, and the mandate of His Majesty King Abdullah II to the Prime Minister-designate to conduct a comprehensive national dialogue on the draft income tax law.”
 

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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
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Lebanon Military Says One Soldier Killed, 18 Hurt in Israeli Strike on Army Center

Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb
Lebanese army soldiers and people stand at the site of an Israeli strike in the town of Baaloul, in the western Bekaa Valley, Lebanon October 19, 2024. REUTERS/Maher Abou Taleb

An Israeli strike on a Lebanese army center on Sunday killed one soldier and wounded 18 others, the Lebanese military said.

It was the latest in a series of Israeli strikes that have killed over 40 Lebanese troops, even as the military has largely kept to the sidelines in the war between Israel and Hezbollah.

There was no immediate comment from the Israeli military, which has said previous strikes on Lebanese troops were accidental and that they are not a target of its campaign against Hezbollah.

Lebanon's caretaker prime minister, Najib Mikati, condemned it as an assault on US-led ceasefire efforts, calling it a “direct, bloody message rejecting all efforts and ongoing contacts” to end the war.

“(Israel is) again writing in Lebanese blood a brazen rejection of the solution that is being discussed,” a statement from his office read.

The strike occurred in southwestern Lebanon on the coastal road between Tyre and Naqoura, where there has been heavy fighting between Israel and Hezbollah.

Hezbollah began firing rockets, missiles and drones into Israel after Hamas' Oct. 7, 2023, attack out of the Gaza Strip ignited the war there. Hezbollah has portrayed the attacks as an act of solidarity with the Palestinians and Hamas. Iran supports both armed groups.

Israel has launched retaliatory airstrikes since the rocket fire began, and in September the low-level conflict erupted into all-out war, as Israel launched waves of airstrikes across large parts of Lebanon and killed Hezbollah's top leader, Hassan Nasrallah, and several of his top commanders.

Israeli airstrikes early Saturday pounded central Beirut, killing at least 20 people and wounding 66, according to Lebanon's Health Ministry. Hezbollah has continued to fire regular barrages into Israel, forcing people to race for shelters and occasionally killing or wounding them.

Israeli attacks have killed more than 3,500 people in Lebanon, according to Lebanon’s Health Ministry. The fighting has displaced about 1.2 million people, or a quarter of Lebanon’s population.

On the Israeli side, about 90 soldiers and nearly 50 civilians have been killed by bombardments in northern Israel and in battle following Israel's ground invasion in early October. Around 60,000 Israelis have been displaced from the country's north.

Hezbollah fired barrages of rockets into northern and central Israel on Sunday, some of which were intercepted.

Israel's Magen David Adom rescue service said it was treating two people in the central city of Petah Tikva, a 23-year-old man who was lightly wounded by a blast and a 70-year-old woman suffering from smoke inhalation from a car that caught fire. The first responders said they also treated two women in their 50s who were wounded in northern Israel.

It was unclear whether the injuries and damage were caused by the rockets or interceptors.

The Biden administration has spent months trying to broker a ceasefire, and US envoy Amos Hochstein was back in the region last week.

The emerging agreement would pave the way for the withdrawal of Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops from southern Lebanon below the Litani River in accordance with the UN Security Council resolution that ended the 2006 war. Lebanese troops would patrol the area, with the presence of UN peacekeepers.