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Ammon News - Acting Deputy Secretary of State and Under Secretary for Political Affairs, Victoria Nuland, said that the leadership demonstrated by His Majesty King Abdullah and Jordan on the humanitarian front in Gaza was critical to the progress made this week and the opening of the Karem Abu Salem border crossing.

"As we move forward, we fully support Jordan's ambition to become a hub for air assistance to the Palestinian people, so despite the difficulties of the current situation, we must work together to protect civilians, ensure compliance with international humanitarian law, and provide more assistance to those affected by the conflict," Nuland told the Jordan News Agency (Petra).

She went on to say, "Jordan has been a trailblazer in protecting Palestinians and collaborating with us to meet their humanitarian and economic needs for decades."

"Today we discussed in Jordan the need to specifically meet medical requirements and needs, ensure that the population's needs for shelter are met, and ensure that humanitarian workers are able to move within Gaza," Nuland added.

"We've also started talking about what will happen after the conflict in terms of reconstruction, ensuring local security and administration, and returning to the question of how to establish the conditions that would allow the two countries to live side by side in peace and security," the US official said.

"Next year marks the 75th anniversary of the US-Jordanian friendship, and we have always been unified and worked together in good and bad times," Nuland underlined. "Today, we have been witnessing a challenging time since October 7th, and it is critical for us to understand the situation and work to ensure that the circle of this conflict does not expand, specifically in order to protect innocent civilians and deliver more humanitarian aid to Gaza, for which we worked closely with His Majesty the King and the Jordanian government."

"We are working hard to keep the ongoing conflict from spreading, and I understand that keeping the West Bank as calm as possible is a top concern for Jordan. This includes combating radical settlers' violence and not enabling the creation of a new front in the north with Hezbollah, as we have established certain guidelines in this regard," she underlined explained.

Concerning the future of Gaza, Nuland said, "President Biden and Secretary of State Blinken emphasized our position on a number of issues that must be prevented, including the forced displacement of Palestinians, whether in the West Bank or the Gaza Strip. This has happened before, and repeating it won't help in solving of this situation."

She went ot say, "I believe it is essential to be open and honest with each other when discussing our points of view and to collaborate to resolve situations where our partnership can make a difference. This has been proved in humanitarian cooperation. Today I had the opportunity of meeting with UNRWA officials and video chatting with some Palestinian staff working at the agency within Gaza."

Concerning US assistance to UNRWA, Nuland added, "The United States has been and continues to be the largest donor of support and funding to UNRWA for many years. Furthermore, I feel that the current situation shines a brighter focus on the life-saving measures that UNRWA has always undertaken and is currently leading."

"If UNRWA was not present in Gaza, many people's suffering would worsen tremendously. As a result, we are glad for the opportunity to speak with some of the Palestinian UNRWA staff operating in Gaza, learn about the obstacles they encounter, and collaborate on ways to provide more support to a larger number of people as soon as possible," the US official concluded.

Petra