Prince Hassan says Israeli aggression leads to point of no return

AMMAN –– Israel’s escalatory measures, aggression and colonial activities will bring the Palestinian-Israeli conflict to a point of no return, HRH Prince Hassan warned on Tuesday.

In a statement marking a week of Israel’s aggression on the Gaza Strip, the prince, who is president of the Arab Thought Forum, expressed dismay over the ongoing suffering of Palestinians in the coastal enclave.

The death toll from Israel’s week-long campaign in Gaza rose Tuesday to 194, as two Palestinians were killed in renewed strikes after an Egyptian truce bid failed, Agence France-Presse reported.

Reason and dialogue are the only viable methods of resolving the decades-long conflict, not violence and military force, Prince Hassan stressed in a statement e-mailed to The Jordan Times. 

Palestine is a reality Israel cannot ignore, he added, and the failure to reach a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict is a threat to regional and international security. 

Prince Hassan also called for a Palestinian-Arab and international strategy to resolve the conflict, based on a complete vision of all the region’s dilemmas, including Syria and Iraq.

Also on Tuesday, students at Tafileh Technical University staged a march on campus, calling for support for the Palestinians in Gaza and expressing their rejection of the “Zionist shelling of the Gaza Strip”. 

They called on the government to expel the Israeli ambassador, close the Israeli embassy in Amman and nullify the Wadi Araba agreement. 

Later in the evening in Amman, around 50 protesters gathered outside Kalouti Mosque near the Israeli embassy in the Rabieh area to express solidarity with Palestinians and denounce the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip.

Women and children also took part in the demonstration, organised by the Muslim Brotherhood in collaboration with youth movements and political parties. 

During the event, participants performed taraweeh prayers (special Ramadan evening prayers) at Kalouti Mosque.

Following the prayers, demonstrators held banners denouncing the military attack launched by Israel against Gaza.  

Thabet Assaf, a member of the Islamist movement, said the event was organised with the aim of supporting Palestinians.

Murad Adailah, one of the organisers, said the protest was also held to send a message to the government to take a political stance against Israeli aggression and close down the Israeli embassy in the capital. 

Extensive police presence was seen during the demonstration. 

On Monday, members of popular movements in Irbid, in cooperation with the Muslim Brotherhood, staged a march, condemning the Israeli offensive on Gaza and lauding the Palestinian resistance, the Jordan News Agency, Petra, reported. 

Participants in the protest, which took place after taraweeh prayers, called on Arab regimes to adopt a strong position to stop the Israeli aggression.