Amman, April 22: The Jordanian government on Wednesday once again condemned a week-old Israeli military order that could lead to the expulsion of tens of thousands of Palestinians from the West Bank.
Minister of State Nabil Sharif told reporters during a weekly press conference that the Jordanian government would “not allow … under any pretext” the deportation of Palestinians to Jordan.
“The Jordanian government reserves all diplomatic, political and legal choices in dealing with this decision, which we consider as null and void and illegal,” he added.
An Israeli military order, which classifies people living in the West Bank without the proper documents as “infiltrators,” came into effect on April 13.
Arab and Israeli media have predicted that more than 70,000 Palestinians, mostly Gazans, would be deported from the West Bank as a result of the new ordinance.
The move has been met with protests from Jordanian politicians and columnists, who are also concerned that their country, which is already home to 1.9 million Palestinians, would be affected negatively if it had to absorb more refugees.
Jordanian Prime Minister Samir Rifai, who accompanied King Abdullah II on a visit to the United States last week, raised Amman’s concerns during meetings with US Middle East peace envoy George Mitchell and other American officials, Sharif said.
The Jordanian foreign ministry had previously handed the Israeli ambassador in Amman a “strongly worded protest.”
–Agencies