Amman, Oct. 27 (Petra) – The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) published excerpts from an interview with His Majesty King Abdullah II, in which His Majesty said that countries would refuse to be tasked with "enforcing" peace in Gaza if deployed under President Trump’s ceasefire plan, stressing that there is a clear difference between enforcing peace and keeping it.
"What is the mandate of security forces inside Gaza? We hope it is peacekeeping, because if it’s peace enforcing, nobody will want to touch that," His Majesty said, according to the BBC.
The report noted that under President Trump’s 20-point peace plan, Arab states and international partners would send stabilisation forces to "train and provide support to vetted Palestinian police forces in Gaza, and will consult with Jordan and Egypt, who have extensive experience in this field." The plan also envisages Hamas disarming and relinquishing political control of the Strip.
In the BBC Panorama interview, His Majesty said that Jordan and Egypt were ready to train Palestinian security forces, explaining that peacekeeping means supporting the local police the Palestinians themselves whom both Jordan and Egypt are prepared to train in large numbers, although that would take time. "If we’re running around Gaza on patrol with weapons, that’s not a situation any country would want to get involved in," His Majesty added.
The King stressed that Jordan would not send forces to Gaza because the Kingdom is "too close politically" to developments there.
In a separate Panorama interview, Her Majesty Queen Rania Al Abdullah praised President Trump for his efforts to broker a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, saying he had used U.S. diplomatic, military, and financial leverage to pressure Israel.
"To his credit, Trump was the first president in a long time to actually apply pressure on Israel. Beforehand, when Israel crossed lines, the U.S. president might offer a few words of rebuke or a mild warning," Her Majesty said. "President Trump actually got Prime Minister Netanyahu to agree to a ceasefire, and I hope he continues to be engaged in this process." Her Majesty also criticised the international community for failing, as she put it, to stop the war for two years.
"Do you know what it’s like to be a parent over the past two years? To watch your children suffering, starving, trembling in fear, and to be powerless to do anything about it knowing the whole world is watching and doing nothing? That nightmare has been the daily reality for Palestinians over the past two years," she said.
The BBC reported that Jordan has taken part in international efforts to deliver aid to Gaza and evacuate sick and wounded children. Royal Air Force planes have conducted three airdrop missions over the Strip to deliver humanitarian supplies.
Speaking of his experience during the airdrops, His Majesty said, "Looking over the back ramp was shocking. The devastation in that part of Gaza was unbelievable. I saw it myself. How we, as the international community, allow this to happen is beyond comprehension." According to the BBC, His Majesty asked President Trump to support the evacuation of 2,000 seriously ill Palestinian children from Gaza. During a White House meeting in February, Trump described the initiative as a "beautiful gesture." Since then, 253 children have been evacuated to Jordan.
To leave Gaza, children and their guardians must undergo comprehensive security checks by Israel and host countries. The World Health Organization has described the process as "painfully slow." The Israeli military body overseeing Gaza aid, the Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT), said it attaches "great importance" to facilitating humanitarian assistance to Gaza, including the evacuation of patients with complex medical conditions.
When asked whether he trusted Hamas to honour its pledge to give up any political role in Gaza, His Majesty said: "I don’t know them, but those who work closely with them Qatar and Egypt are very optimistic that they will abide by it." "If we don’t solve this problem, if we don’t find a future for Israelis and Palestinians and a relationship between the Arab and Islamic worlds and Israel, we will be in real trouble," the King warned.
Asked whether she believed lasting peace was possible, Queen Rania said that hope in peace is not naïve but rather a form of defiance.
"I truly believe that Palestinians and Israelis can live side by side," she said. "In the current atmosphere, there is too much hostility, anger, grief, hatred, and mutual cynicism for either side to achieve peace alone. I’m not naïve about that, but I believe that international pressure is the only path forward.
So many times over the past two years, hope has seemed out of reach. Choosing hope hasn’t been easy it’s hard and heavy but it’s the only path that doesn’t deny Palestinians their rights or betray their struggle, or our shared humanity." //Petra// AA
