Amman: Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates Ayman Safadi met Sunday with French Foreign Minister Stephane Sejourne for a discussion on efforts to reach a complete ceasefire in Gaza, ensure the protection of civilians, and continue joint efforts to deliver sufficient and sustainable humanitarian aid to all parts of the Strip.
Safadi warned that the risk of war expanding increases with each day that the aggression on Gaza continues, stressing the need for immediate and effective international action to stop this aggression and its unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.
Safadi urged the international community to continue providing support to the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which is indispensable and cannot be replaced in its role in helping Palestinian refugees, especially in Gaza, which is facing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and whose people, who are facing famine, rely on it primarily.
For his part, t
he French minister stressed that UNRWA is one of the key stakeholders in Gaza, especially while the humanitarian situation is deteriorating, explaining that France has not stopped its support for UNRWA and that no additional funding has been scheduled for the first third of this year.
He said that UNRWA, after the serious accusations leveled against it, must show the highest level of transparency, adding, “We have previously welcomed the measures taken by the agency immediately, and we are now waiting for the results and recommendations of the investigation to ensure full confidence in it.”
Safadi expressed appreciation for France’s continued support for the agency, as this support reflects into food, medicine, and basic necessities for about one million Palestinians who have been displaced to its shelters in the Gaza Strip.
The two ministers underscored their countries’ rejection of the displacement of Palestinians inside or outside their homeland.
Safadi said that the two-state solution based on the rel
evant UN Security Council resolutions and the agreed-upon references is the only way to provide security and achieve a just and lasting peace, lauding France’s position in support of the two-state solution.
Safadi also called for halting the illegal and unlawful Israeli measures that undermine the two-state solution and all chances of achieving peace.
The two ministers discussed the serious escalation in the West Bank and reviewed the ongoing cooperation in efforts to deliver aid to Gaza, where Jordan and France are intensifying their joint efforts to provide urgent humanitarian aid to the people of Gaza, especially after the meeting of His Majesty King Abdullah with French President Emmanuel Macron in Aqaba on December 21st, and through the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization (JHCO) and the airdrops.
The two ministers meeting also covered bilateral ties and the common interest in enhancing them in various fields, as well as a number of regional issues of common interest.
Source: Jordan News Agency