AMMAN — Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi participated on Thursday in the United Nations Security Council’s monthly briefing on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.

 

The session was convened at the invitation of UK Foreign Secretary Yvette Cooper.

 

In his address, Safadi said that while the massacre in Gaza has stopped, the suffering of its people continues, with homes destroyed, schools in ruins and children facing hunger, as the wounded and sick remain without adequate treatment.

 

He noted that US President Donald Trump stopped the war after more than two years of killing, destruction and starvation, and presented a roadmap for reconstruction, stabilisation and progress towards peace. Full implementation of the plan, he said, is the only path to ending the suffering.

 

Safadi stressed the need to stop violations of the ceasefire, citing more than 1,500 Israeli breaches since the agreement was announced and over 600 Palestinians killed during that period.

 

He underscored the importance of ensuring unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza and launching reconstruction efforts, while preserving Gaza’s unity with the West Bank, including occupied East Jerusalem, within the framework of an independent and sovereign Palestinian state living in peace and security alongside Israel, on the basis of the two-state solution and international legitimacy resolutions.

 

He said the Security Council can help support regional stability by backing the implementation of the US plan for Gaza and Security Council Resolution 2803, and by preventing Israel from annexing the occupied West Bank.

 

Safadi added that the international community rejects annexation and that President Trump has affirmed he would not allow it, but warned that the Israeli government has accelerated measures that could make annexation a reality and eliminate prospects for peace.

 

Safadi said that, for the first time since 1967, the Israeli government approved a decision allowing the seizure and registration of Palestinian land as “state land,” paving the way for annexing over 60 per cent of the West Bank (Area C).

 

He added that Israel has permitted settlers to purchase land in the occupied West Bank and granted itself expanded demolition and control powers in Areas A and B, which fall under the administrative authority of the Palestinian National Authority.

 

Safadi also cited the approval of 54 new settlements and at least 86 settlement outposts, describing it as the largest expansion since the United Nations began monitoring settlement activity.

 

He noted that last year alone, Israel approved plans for 27,941 housing units in settlements, double the 2023 figure, according to Israeli human rights organisations. Israel has also resumed construction of 3,400 settlement units in the E1 area east of Jerusalem.

 

He added that more than 37,000 Palestinians have been displaced from their homes in the West Bank and that over 5,000 homes and facilities have been demolished across the occupied Palestinian territory.

 

Safadi warned of escalating violations at holy sites, citing approximately 65,000 incursions into Al Aqsa Mosque/Al Haram Al Sharif in 2025, alongside attempts to impose temporal and spatial division and restrict Muslim worship, including during Ramadan.

 

He also pointed to rising violations against Christian communities and holy sites, including assaults on clergy and worshippers and restrictions on access to churches, criticising measures imposing taxes on church properties as an unprecedented breach of the historic and legal status quo.

 

Safadi described actions targeting the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), including the seizure and destruction of its premises and obstruction of its UN mandate, as “flagrant” violations of international law, United Nations Security Council Resolution 2334, and the 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice affirming the illegality of annexation.

 

He stressed that annexation of the West Bank would eliminate all prospects for a just peace.

 

“The Peace Council, chaired by US President Donald Trump, will meet tomorrow as a step towards restoring stability in Gaza,” Safadi said. “However, while we are all working to end the catastrophe in Gaza, we cannot allow another catastrophe to erupt, the inevitable consequence of Israel’s annexation of the occupied West Bank and the undermining of the two-state solution.”

 

He reaffirmed that there is no alternative to the two-state solution and that any other path would fail to achieve peace, security or stability for Israelis, Palestinians and the wider region.

 

Safadi reiterated Jordan’s commitment to a just peace that fulfils the Palestinian people’s right to freedom and statehood on their national soil, while guaranteeing Israel’s security and normal relations with Arab states under the Arab Peace Initiative.

 

On the sidelines of the session, Safadi met with Pakistani Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar, Egyptian Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty and Indonesian Foreign Minister Sugiono, in addition to Cooper