Israeli Tanks Enter South Khan Younis, Jordanian Foreign Minister: What We See in Gaza Systematic Efforts to Empty the Population

Gazans fled from north to south (Source: UNRWA/Ashraf Amra)

JAKARTA - Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said Israel was attempting to empty Gaza of its Palestinian population, as the country's military tanks reached Khan Younis in southern Gaza on Sunday, in a war described as genocide, causing the number of civilian deaths to continue to rise in the enclave area.

"What we see in Gaza is not just the killing of innocent people and the destruction of their livelihoods (by Israel) but a systematic effort to empty Gaza of its inhabitants," explained Foreign Minister Safadi at a conference in Doha, Qatar, as reported by Reuters, December 11.

"We have not yet seen the world reach a point where this should happen, a firm demand for an end to this war; a war that falls within the legal definition of genocide," he stressed.

Israel bombarded the northern region of Gaza, implemented a total blockade and carried out ground operations in response to the attack by the Palestinian militant group Hamas on their territory on October 7. It left 1,200 Israelis dead and 240 kidnapped.

The war stopped for a week at the end of November, with a ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel brokered by Qatar, Egypt and the United States.

However, failed attempts to extend the ceasefire caused fighting to resume on December 1, with Israel beginning an offensive into the southern region of Gaza on December 3, while operations in the northern region continued.

Asked to comment on Safadi's comments, Israeli government spokesman Eylon Levy said: "This is of course an outrageous and false accusation."

"Israel is fighting to defend itself from the attackers who carried out the October 7 attack, and the goal of our campaign is to bring those attackers to justice and ensure they no longer harm our people," he added.

Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Department of State)

Israel has urged Gaza civilians to move from the battlefield for their own safety and wants to see others make the same call, he said.

Foreign Minister Safadi argued that Israel's aim to destroy Hamas was belied by the scale of destruction suffered by Gaza civilians, which he described as indiscriminate, accusing Israel of committing atrocities that he said amounted to war crimes.

Furthermore, Foreign Minister Safadi also said that there were major differences that emerged in talks between the delegation of Arab ministers and US Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington last Friday, regarding the US Government's military support for Israel and its refusal to call for a ceasefire.

Separately, UNRWA Commissioner General Philippe Lazzarini said in an opinion piece that Israel's forced displacement of more than 1.8 million Gazans, the largest since 1948, also signaled Israel might take tougher action.

"The United Nations and several member states, including the US, categorically reject the forced transfer of Gazans out of the Gaza Strip," Lazzarini wrote in the Los Angeles Times.

"But the developments we are witnessing indicate that there are efforts to move Palestinians to Egypt, regardless of whether they live there or are resettled elsewhere," he stressed.

It is known that the death toll of Palestinians due to the ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip has risen to 17,997, the Ministry of Health in the enclave said on Sunday, as quoted by Anadolu.

Speaking at a press conference, ministry spokesman Ashraf al-Qudra added that another 49,229 people were injured in Israeli attacks on the blockaded territory.