Jordan’s foreign minister voiced doubt on Saturday that Israel could reach its goal of obliterating Hamas with its heavy bombardment and invasion of the Gaza Strip long dominated by the Palestinian Islamist movement.
“Israel says it wants to wipe out Hamas. There’s a lot of military people here, I just don’t understand how this objective can be realised,” Ayman Safadi said at the annual IISS Manama Dialogue security conference in Bahrain.
Israel vowed to wipe out Hamas since its deadly October 7 cross-border rampage into nearby Israeli communities. Israel has bombed much of Gaza City to rubble as it has subdued the north of the enclave and turned to stepping up attacks on Hamas in the south.
The majority of dead on both sides — 1,200 Israelis in Hamas’s assault and over 12,000 in Gaza — have been civilians.
Regional power Saudi Arabia called at the conference for an immediate Israeli-Hamas ceasefire. “We are seeing civilians dying every day. And we need to end that today, not tomorrow,” said Saudi foreign minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan.
Israel has ruled out any ceasefire before its 240 hostages taken by Hamas on October 7 are freed. Hamas has vowed a long and sustained battle against Israel.
Brett McGurk, US President Joe Biden’s top adviser on West Asia, told the Manama conference that the release of hostages held by Hamas would lead to a surge in the delivery of humanitarian aid and a significant pause in fighting in Gaza.
