Safadi calls for immediate end to violence in Gaza at UfM forum

AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi and EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs Josep Borrell on Monday chaired the ninth Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) Regional Forum in Barcelona.

Hosted by Spanish Minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation José Manuel Albares, the forum brought together foreign ministers and representatives of UfM member states and regional institutions to discuss the escalating regional crises, with a particular focus on Gaza, according to a Foreign Ministry statement.

Addressing the gathering, Safadi called on the international community to prioritise an end to Israel's aggression on Gaza and stop using starvation tactics as a weapon of war.

"The protection of international and humanitarian laws must be a global priority. War will not bring security to Israel; only peace and justice can. The path to peace is clear: Palestinians must be granted their right to self-determination. Without this, the cycle of war and violence will continue to haunt us year after year," he said.

The minister pointed to the humanitarian crisis unfolding in northern Gaza, where residents have been cut off from food and medical supplies for three weeks. 

"Israel has killed tens of thousands of Palestinians, with the victim toll now exceeding 43,000, while tens of thousands are buried under rubble. A whole population is starving," Safadi said, stressing that "not a single truck carrying food or medicine has been allowed into Gaza for weeks".

Emphasising the urgent need to stop the violence, Safadi said that the ongoing destruction undermines peace efforts and global legal norms.

"Look at the number of humanitarian workers killed, the highest in any conflict in decades, and the journalists, women and children who are dead or injured, orphaned in a landscape of ruins with no electricity, no water and no functioning hospitals. This is a crisis that we must strongly condemn and end immediately ", he said.

Safadi described the two-state solution as the only viable way forward: "The alternative to this is more war, and the other way is apartheid, what we are witnessing now in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. We cannot allow ethnic cleansing or genocide".

In a joint press conference, Safadi, Borrell, Albares and UfM Secretary General Nasser Kamel underlined the UfM's crucial role in promoting peace and stability in the region and spoke out against the escalating violence and humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

"We meet today at a time when Israel is undermining peace, destabilising the region and creating a future of conflict and war," Safadi said, deploring the continued loss of innocent lives, especially children, who have suffered devastating consequences as their families are buried under the rubble.

Safadi drew attention to the agenda of the Israeli Knesset, where lawmakers are considering two bills aimed at preventing the UNRWA from operating. 

Safadi urged UfM partners to take immediate and effective action to uphold international and humanitarian laws and to stop Israel's violations.

He also highlighted Jordan's key role in protecting Islamic and Christian holy sites under the Hashemite Custodianship, reiterating that the Jordan-Israel Peace Treaty recognises Jordan's special responsibility in the management of these holy sites.