Ensuring Syria’s security bolsters regional stability: Jordanian monarch

AMMAN, Jordan

Jordan’s King Abdullah II emphasized on Friday that guaranteeing Syria’s security strengthens the region’s overall stability and urged coordinated international efforts to achieve this goal.

King Abdullah made these remarks during a phone call with Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis, during which the two leaders discussed "regional updates, particularly the situation in Syria," according to a Jordanian Royal Court statement.

He made it clear that "ensuring Syria's security and stability will reinforce security and stability across the region," focusing on the "necessity of coordinating international efforts in this regard."

Dictator Bashar Assad, who ruled Syria with an iron fist for nearly 25 years, fled to Russia last Sunday after anti-regime groups seized control of Damascus. The takeover came after Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) fighters captured key cities in a swift offensive that lasted less than two weeks.

The Jordanian monarch added that “the first step to de-escalating tensions in the region is an immediate halt to Israel’s war on Gaza.”

In this context, he called for “doubling humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip and ensuring its delivery without obstruction or delay.”

The two leaders also emphasized “the importance of ongoing efforts to ensure the success of the cease-fire in Lebanon.”

Israel has launched a genocidal war on the Gaza Strip that has killed more than 44,800 victims, mostly women and children, since an attack by the Palestinian resistance group Hamas on Oct. 7, 2023.

The International Criminal Court (ICC) issued arrest warrants last month for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on Gaza.

*Writing by Ikram Kouachi in Ankara