Jordan, U.S. reject forced displacement of Gazans amid Israeli war

Jordan said Sunday it has agreed with the United States on rejecting the forced displacement of Palestinians from the Gaza Strip.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi met in Amman with U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken, who arrived in the country as part of a regional tour.

The two chief diplomats held talks on the "disastrous" conditions in the Gaza Strip, the Foreign Ministry said in a statement.

Safadi emphasized the necessity of reaching an immediate and permanent cease-fire in Gaza, the statement said.

Safadi termed any proposal for separating Gaza from the West Bank as "futile."

According to the statement, the two ministers agreed on the importance of delivering immediate and sufficient aid to the Palestinian enclave.

They also rejected the displacement of Palestinians from Gaza and the necessity of enabling displaced Gazans to return to their homes, it added.

Safadi and Blinken agreed to pursue efforts to halt the war and launch real and effective efforts to achieve a just peace based on the two-state solution, the statement said.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border attack by Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7.

At least 22,835 Palestinians have since been killed and 58,416 others injured, according to Gaza's health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli onslaught has left Gaza in ruins, with 60% of the enclave's infrastructure damaged or destroyed, and nearly 2 million residents displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicines.