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Muhammad Amin
Jordan‘s tribes are on high alert as Israel expands its genocide from Gaza to the West Bank, with clan elders warning the world to take seriously the Nazi state’s well-publicised plans to forcibly expel millions of Palestinians onto their land.
Jordan has already warned that any mass, forced expulsion will be seen as “a declaration of war”.
Diplomatic popgun
However, it appears its government is hoping diplomatic pressure and threats of legal action under international law will stay Israel’s plans. As Gazans know all too well, those two weapons in Jordan’s arsenal have been dead in the water since October 7.
Tel Aviv’s latest assault on the occupied West Bank’s 3million residents is the biggest since the Second Intifada, with tanks, bulldozers, aircraft and troops attacking Jenin, Tulkarm and Tubas cities.
Jordan shares a 335km border with Israel and the West Bank and its tribes have not overlooked Israel’s declarations that it intends ethnically cleansing the occupied territory.
The country’s foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, warned last week that any attempt to displace Palestinians to Jordan would be a “declaration of war”.
Ethnic cleansing
The warning came after Israel Katz, Israel’s foreign minister said his country needed take any measures to deal with the West Bank, “including the temporary evacuation of Palestinian civilians “.
The comments triggered widespread anger amongst several Jordanian tribes .
Marwan Faouri, a prominent elder in As-Salt and head of the Wasatiya Forum, told Middle East Eye Israel’s actions and genocidal rhetoric posed a serious threat.
“The extreme right in Israel is seeking to expand the state’s borders, and this expansion is towards Jordan, with talk of displacement becoming clearer than ever,” he told MEE.
“Jordan has many options that it can resort to in confronting these threats, and Israel will be the biggest loser, because Jordan is an important pillar of stability in the region,” he added.
Regional stability, however, has never registered large among Israel’s strategic concerns.
A sign of the building tension came on Sunday when a Jordanian truck driver , Maher Jazi, killed three Israelis at the Allenby Bridge in the occupied West Bank before Israeli soldiers shot him dead. It marked the first clash between the two countries since October 7.
Jordan’s only card
Hael Waddan al-Dajjah, a leading tribal elder from central Jordan and a former MP, warned the Gaza Holocaust was triggering widespread unrest in Jordan.
“Diplomacy is the only card that Jordan has in confronting Israel, and I confirm that Jordan is also adept at using this card, especially in light of the position that King Abdullah enjoys on the international scene,” he said.
“The king has warned of the dangerous Israeli escalation that also threatens the peace agreement, and Jordan may resort to reconsidering the peace agreement with Israel.
“The Jordanian foreign minister has previously spoken about Jordan preparing the necessary documents to prosecute Israel and hold it accountable for its violations of international law and the peace treaty,” he added.
Middle East Eye reports the soaring death tolls in Gaza and the West Bank have resulted in near-daily protests in Jordan, but Amman still cooperates with Israel and helped Israel to fend off an Iranian missile barrage earlier this year.
In the 1960s, the PLO operated from the Jordan Valley against Israel before Amman forced it to leave Lebanon in the early 1970s, after violent clashes with Jordanian forces.
Jordan secured its border with Israel in 1994 when it signed a peace treaty with Israel, re-establishing relations.
Article 2.6 of the peace treaty states that “within their control, involuntary movements of persons in such a way as to adversely prejudice the security of either Party should not be permitted”.
‘Illusion of reassurance’
Mohammad Abu Rumman, a professor of political science at the University of Jordan and a former minister, said the latest West Bank assault was undermining the peace deal.
“Israeli attacks undoubtedly pose a challenge to Jordanian national security because they will make it impossible to establish a Palestinian state, which puts a big question mark on the future of the West Bank, and this affects Jordan’s security,” he told MEE.
Abu Rumman added that Jordanian officials were also on edge over a possible return of a Donald Trump presidency.
Trump’s “Peace to Prosperity” plan has deepened worries Israel will retain permanent control over the West Bank, despite clear ICJ rulings that its occupation is illegal, and that a Palestinian “solution” will be imposed on Jordan.
Saeed Diab, secretary-general of the Democratic Popular Unity Party, one of the largest opposition parties in Jordan, said continuing and generous US aid meant Jordan’s government was unlikely to take a strong approach against Israel.
“The official Jordanian and Egyptian silence is closer to collusion. Jordan has many pressure cards on Israel, but it does not want to use them and wants to live in the illusion of American reassurances,” he added.
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