Key US ally in Middle East pulls ambassador from Israel in protest of Gaza war

Jordan, a major U.S. ally in the Middle East, pulled its ambassador from Israel on Wednesday to protest the ongoing war in Gaza, which has killed thousands of Palestinians, adding increased tensions in the region.

The decision, effective immediately, was made by Ayman Safadi, the deputy prime minister and minister of foreign affairs in the country, according to a Wednesday statement from Jordan’s Foreign Ministry.

The ministry said the decision was a public “expression of Jordan’s position of rejection and condemnation of the raging Israeli war on Gaza, which is killing innocent people and causing an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe.”

The war “carries dangerous possibilities for its expansion, which will threaten the security of the entire region and international security and peace,” the ministry said in the statement announcing the removal of the ambassador.

Jordan’s ambassador to Israel had already departed the country, but the order Wednesday means he will not return.

Safadi will allow the return of the ambassador if Israel commits to “stopping its war on Gaza and stopping the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing” to the Palestinians in the coastal enclave, the statement said.

In retaliation for a deadly attack from the Palestinian militant group Hamas early last month, Israeli forces have been bombing Gaza for weeks and have now invaded the small territory in a ground offensive meant to completely destroy Hamas.

The U.S. has sought to both support Israel’s defense and to allow humanitarian aid into Gaza to help innocent Palestinians, but the balancing act has angered the Arab world, which wants a cease-fire to stop the bloodshed of civilians.

Jordan normalized relations with Israel decades ago, becoming the second nation to do so after Egypt.

King Abdullah II, who met with Secretary of State Antony Blinken last month, is a key U.S. ally in the Middle East.

But Jordan called off a summit with President Biden last month when the American leader visited the region days after an explosion near a hospital in Gaza killed hundreds, which prompted unrest in several neighboring countries. The explosion was likely caused by a misfired Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket, the Israeli military determined.

Jordan’s Queen Rania, who is Palestinian, has been outspoken against the violence in Gaza and told CNN in late October she was “shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe” as she decried “a glaring double standard in the world.”

Jordan is calling for a cease-fire and a two-state solution between Palestine and Israel in the region.