“Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi has decided to immediately recall the Jordanian ambassador to Israel,” the ministry of diplomacy said in a statement. He justified this move by “condemning the Israeli war that is killing innocent people in Gaza”.
The Israeli ambassador to Jordan left the country for security reasons after the outbreak of fighting in Gaza and, according to Safadi, continues to stay outside Jordanian territory.
The Jordanian minister said he can return when “Israel stops its war in Gaza, the humanitarian disaster it is causing, and stops all measures that deprive Palestinians of their right to food, water, medicine, as well as their right to a safe and stable life.”
Jordan has also asked the United States to deploy batteries of the Patriot air defense system on its territory to bolster defenses at a time of heightened tensions in the Middle East.
Several batteries of the US Patriot air defense system were deployed in Jordan in 2013 due to the civil war in neighboring Syria due to concerns about the escalation of the conflict.
Jordanian officials are now concerned that fighting between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement could escalate into a regional conflict.
“We have asked the American side to help strengthen our defense system with the Patriot air defense system,” a Jordanian army spokesman said on state television, according to media reports.
In recent weeks, the United States has strengthened its military presence in the Middle East and sent two of its aircraft carriers to the region. They reacted in this way to the outbreak of the conflict between Israel and Hamas.
