Jordan’s King Abdullah II says it is “our duty to help our brothers and sisters injured in the war against Gaza.”
Jordan and Israel have announced the airdrop of urgent medical supplies to a field hospital in the Gaza Strip.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II said early Monday that the Jordanian air force had dropped “urgent medical aid” to the field hospital run by the kingdom in the enclave since 2009.
“Our fearless air force personnel dropped urgent medical aid to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza at midnight,” he said on X, formerly known as Twitter.
“It is our duty to help our brothers and sisters who were injured in the war against Gaza. “We will always be there for our Palestinian brothers.”
Our fearless Air Force personnel airdropped urgent medical assistance to the Jordanian field hospital in Gaza at midnight. It is our duty to help our brothers and sisters injured in the war against Gaza. We will always be there for our Palestinian brothers pic.twitter.com/HOWI2VL7hL
— عبدالله بن الحسين (@KingAbdullahII) November 5, 2023
The Israeli military said in a statement later Monday that it had “coordinated” with its Arab neighbor over the drop, which it said included food.
“The devices are used by medical staff for patients,” it said.
Last month, Saudi Arabia’s Arab News newspaper reported, citing an unnamed official, that the Jordanian field hospital was facing an “existential threat” and would likely cease operations soon due to a lack of supplies due to Israeli bombings.
Humanitarian organizations warn of a growing humanitarian crisis due to shortages of food, water, electricity and fuel caused by Israel’s blockade and bombing of the enclave.
On Sunday, the heads of 18 UN agencies and NGOs issued a rare joint statement condemning the siege on Gaza as “unacceptable” and calling for aid to be delivered “safely, quickly and at the scale necessary.”
The airdrop came as US Secretary of State Antony Blinken arrived in Turkey as part of a high-profile diplomatic tour of the region following visits to Israel, the occupied West Bank, Jordan and Iraq.
Jordan, like other Arab countries, has strongly condemned the Israeli bombing of the Gaza Strip, which officials said killed at least 9,922 Palestinians in the Hamas-ruled enclave.
Amman recalled its ambassador to Israel last week after he accused the country of causing an “unprecedented humanitarian disaster” in the enclave.
Source : www.aljazeera.com