Jordan’s Cabinet Dissolves Local, Municipal Councils

A Jordanian woman casts her ballot at a polling station for local and municipal elections in Amman, Jordan. (Reuters/File)
A Jordanian woman casts her ballot at a polling station for local and municipal elections in Amman, Jordan. (Reuters/File)
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Jordan’s Cabinet Dissolves Local, Municipal Councils

A Jordanian woman casts her ballot at a polling station for local and municipal elections in Amman, Jordan. (Reuters/File)
A Jordanian woman casts her ballot at a polling station for local and municipal elections in Amman, Jordan. (Reuters/File)

The Jordanian Cabinet decided on Wednesday to dissolve municipal and local councils as well as the council of the Greater Amman Municipality (GAM).

It also decided to set up ad hoc committees to run the affairs of municipalities and the GAM council during the coming period.

The cabinet didn’t make official statements to determine the election date, however sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that they might take place between August and October.

The decision reflects the Jordanian authorities’ keenness to commit to the elections’ deadline, despite the challenging conditions in the country and the surge in COVID-19 deaths and infections.

Reliable sources told Asharq Al-Awsat that the government prepared amendments to draft laws related to the local authority for the parliament to discuss next week.

The sources said the amendments might lead to reducing a number of council members by expanding the powers of administrative governors and requesting a university degree for membership eligibility .

The upcoming municipal elections are expected to take place amid a partial lockdown and the uncertain epidemiological situation in the country.

The Independent Election Commission, which is the national electoral commission responsible for administering and supervising elections under the Constitution of Jordan, has prepared measures for the elections that ban gatherings inside polling stations and counting centers.

More than 8,000 ballot boxes were distributed over approximately 4,000 centers in the kingdom.



Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Kill at Least 20 People

Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader  BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
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Israeli Airstrikes on Gaza Kill at Least 20 People

Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader  BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE
Smoke rises as people stand in a tent camp for displaced people, after an Israeli attack amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, in Khan Younis, southern Gaza Strip, December 22, 2024. REUTERS/Feras Nader BEST QUALITY AVAILABLE

Palestinian medics say Israeli airstrikes on the Gaza Strip have killed at least 20 people.
One of the strikes overnight and into Monday hit a tent camp in the Muwasi area, an Israel-declared humanitarian zone, killing eight people, including two children.
That’s according to the Nasser Hospital in the southern city of Khan Younis, which received the bodies.
Hospital records show another six killed in a strike on people securing an aid convoy and another two killed in a strike on a car in Muwasi. One person was killed in a separate strike in the area,The Associated Press reported.
The Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in the central city of Deir al-Balah said three bodies arrived after an airstrike on a school-turned-shelter in the built-up Nuseirat refugee camp.
The Israeli military says it only strikes militants, accusing them of hiding among civilians. It said late Sunday that it had targeted a Hamas fighter in the humanitarian zone.
The war began when a Hamas-led group attacked southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and taking around 250 hostage. Around 100 captives are still inside Gaza, at least a third of whom are believed to be dead.
Israel’s air and ground offensive has killed over 45,200 Palestinians, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry. The ministry says women and children make up more than half the dead but does not distinguish between civilians and combatants in its tally. The military says it has killed over 17,000 of Hamas, without providing evidence.