King Abdullah Blames Global Inaction for Permanent Israeli Policies

Jordan’s King Abdullah II addressed the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Tuesday. He accused the international community of choosing to manage the Palestinian-Israeli issue rather than confronting its root causes. The monarch warned that Israeli measures once considered temporary have evolved into permanent policies reshaping Palestinian territory significantly.

Abdullah stated he had spent decades warning about the dangers of leaving the conflict unresolved. He noted that successive Israeli violations were initially treated as temporary actions. However, these temporary measures eventually became permanent realities. This shift ultimately transformed into established policy, ignoring long-standing warnings from regional leaders about the consequences of inaction.

Regarding the occupied West Bank, the king described a fundamental shift in the situation. He pointed to settlement expansion, settler violence, land seizures, and forcible displacement of Palestinians. Abdullah characterized forced displacement as a war crime. He argued these interconnected elements form a policy aimed at removing Palestinians from their ancestral lands permanently.

The king also warned that Israel seeks to reshape Gaza through continued attacks and infrastructure destruction. He noted Palestinians are confined to roughly one-third of the enclave. Abdullah rejected dismissing these actions as temporary military measures. He called for accountability by recognizing them as attempts to erase Palestinian life and impose new territorial realities.

Abdullah highlighted the killing of at least 300 children in the first 300 days after the ceasefire announcement. He added that Jordanian field hospitals in Gaza were targeted. His remarks echoed UN Secretary-General António Guterres, who warned of ethnic cleansing specters. The king concluded that these developments make a viable Palestinian state impossible without political resolution.