Jordan Gradually Returns to Normal Life

FILE PHOTO: Jordanian police officers stand guard as a man waits to get bread in a closed-down part of Al-Nasr area, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
FILE PHOTO: Jordanian police officers stand guard as a man waits to get bread in a closed-down part of Al-Nasr area, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
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Jordan Gradually Returns to Normal Life

FILE PHOTO: Jordanian police officers stand guard as a man waits to get bread in a closed-down part of Al-Nasr area, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed
FILE PHOTO: Jordanian police officers stand guard as a man waits to get bread in a closed-down part of Al-Nasr area, amid the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) outbreak, in Amman, Jordan, April 15, 2020. REUTERS/Muhammad Hamed

Normal life is gradually returning to Jordan, after a total lockdown in Amman and the Irbid governorate resulted in zero new infections.

The Jordanian government announced on Monday that it would allow private vehicles to circulate on the basis of odd and even numbers, after lifting restrictions on movement and work in different sectors.

The government also allowed the resumption of activities in the public transport at a rate not exceeding 50 percent of the sector’s capacity, according to statements by Information Minister Amjad Al-Adayleh.

The National Committee for Epidemics showed more flexibility in dealing with the curfew hours in the country, allowing the return of work to individual occupations and small businesses.

Meanwhile, Minister of Industry and Trade Tareq Al-Hamouri said that activities at the industrial sector could resume at 100 percent of production capacity.

The commercial sector, for its part, expressed surprise at a government decision to maintain the closure of basic service sectors.

Public criticism of the restriction measures in the country is mounting as only 95 cases are still under treatment out of 449 infections recorded in the country.

Life returned to normal in previously isolated areas, especially in the northern Irbid governorate.

The government announced on Monday the closure of the public sector, schools, and universities until the end of the month of Ramadan.

Markets started witnessing an active movement after the reopening of multiple sectors, including restaurants, clothing stores, and a number of direct sales sectors such as mobile phones stores and building materials.



Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Fire Kills 8 Near Aid Centers, 4 Others

19 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians gather along the Coastal Road in the Al-Sudaniyya area of northern Gaza as they wait for humanitarian aid expected to arrive through the Zikim crossing on 19 June 2025. (dpa)
19 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians gather along the Coastal Road in the Al-Sudaniyya area of northern Gaza as they wait for humanitarian aid expected to arrive through the Zikim crossing on 19 June 2025. (dpa)
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Gaza Rescuers Say Israeli Fire Kills 8 Near Aid Centers, 4 Others

19 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians gather along the Coastal Road in the Al-Sudaniyya area of northern Gaza as they wait for humanitarian aid expected to arrive through the Zikim crossing on 19 June 2025. (dpa)
19 June 2025, Palestinian Territories, Gaza: Palestinians gather along the Coastal Road in the Al-Sudaniyya area of northern Gaza as they wait for humanitarian aid expected to arrive through the Zikim crossing on 19 June 2025. (dpa)

Gaza's civil defense agency said Israeli fire killed at least 12 people on Saturday, including eight who had gathered near aid distribution sites in the Palestinian territory suffering severe food shortages.

Civil defense spokesman Mahmud Bassal told AFP that three people were killed by gunfire from Israeli forces while waiting to collect aid in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a separate incident, Bassal said five people were killed in a central area known as the Netzarim corridor, where thousands of Palestinians have gathered daily in the hope of receiving food rations.

The Israeli army told AFP it was "looking into" both incidents, which according to the civil defense agency occurred near distribution centers run by the US- and Israel-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation.

Its operations began at the end of May when Israel eased a total aid blockade that lasted more than two months but have been marred by chaotic scenes and neutrality concerns.

UN agencies and major aid groups have refused to cooperate with the foundation over concerns it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

The health ministry in the Hamas-run territory said on Saturday that 450 people had been killed and 3,466 others injured while seeking aid in near-daily incidents since late May.

The Israeli blockade imposed in early March amid an impasse in truce negotiations had produced famine-like conditions across Gaza, according to rights groups.

Israel's military has pressed its operations across Gaza more than 20 months since an unprecedented Hamas attack triggered the devastating war, and even as attention has shifted to the war with Iran since June 13.

Bassal told AFP that three people were killed on Saturday in an Israeli air strike on Gaza City in the north, and one more in another strike on the southern city of Khan Younis.

Israeli forces also demolished more than 10 houses in Gaza City "by detonating them with explosives", he added.

Israeli restrictions on media in the Gaza Strip and difficulties in accessing some areas mean AFP is unable to independently verify the tolls and details provided by rescuers and authorities.

Earlier this week, the UN's World Health Organization warned that Gaza's health system was at a "breaking point", pleading for fuel to be allowed into the territory to keep its remaining hospitals running.

The Hamas attack in October 2023 that sparked the war resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel's retaliatory military campaign has killed at least 55,908 people, also mostly civilians, according to the Gaza health ministry. The UN considers these figures reliable.