AMMAN: Jordanians voted Tuesday in a parliamentary election overshadowed by the Gaza war and concerns over a slump in tourism, a sector vital to the kingdom’s economy.
It is the first vote since a 2022 reform increased the number of seats in the house, reserving more for women and lowering the minimum age for candidates.
Despite these efforts to modernize the legislature, voters and candidates said the war in the Gaza Strip dominated the election.
After voting, Prime Minister Bisher Khasawneh said he hoped the turnout would not be affected by “this brutal Israeli aggression.”
“We hope that the vote will be high and befitting of this national occasion,” he said.
Independent Election Commission chairman Musa Maaytah later told a news conference he expected turnout “to be around the average of the previous elections in 2020 and 2016” when it was “around 30 percent.”
Polls closed at 7:00 p.m. (1600 GMT), with the electoral authority announcing a turnout of about 32 percent.
Chief European parliament observer Zeljana Zovko had earlier told reporters voting was “going smoothly.”
Analysts had predicted a high abstention rate, with Islamist candidates struggling to harness public anger over the devastating war in Gaza sparked by Hamas’s unprecedented October 7 attack on Israel.
Jordan signed a peace treaty with Israel in 1994, becoming only the second Arab state to do so after Egypt. But around half its population is of Palestinian origin, and protests calling for the treaty’s cancelation have been frequent since the war erupted.
Tensions escalated further two days before polling day when a Jordanian gunman killed three Israeli guards at Jordan’s border crossing with the occupied West Bank — the first such attack since the 1990s.
Voters meanwhile fear the ongoing war will continue to strain the economy until Israel and Palestinian militants Hamas reach a ceasefire.
Tourism — a sector Jordan relies on for about 14 percent of its gross domestic product — has declined since the war began.
“The situation, frankly, is going from bad to worse in terms of job opportunities, and the salaries are low with long working hours,” said 21-year-old engineering student Fayez Al-Disi.
Retired schoolteacher Dalal Moussa said it was important to choose the best candidates “so that we have a role in what is happening around us” in the region.
Compounding the country’s economic woes, public debt has neared $50 billion and unemployment hit 21 percent in the first quarter of this year.
Candidates include tribal leaders, centrists, leftists and Islamists from the country’s largest opposition group, the Muslim Brotherhood-affiliated Islamic Action Front (IAF).
According to the election commission, more than 5.1 million people are registered to vote in the country of 11.5 million.
“What is happening in Gaza... (the) killing, destruction and tragedies broadcast daily on television, makes us feel pain, helplessness, humiliation and degradation, and makes us forget the elections and everything that is happening around us,” said Omar Mohammed, a 43-year-old civil servant.
Islamist candidates have sought to capitalize on the public anger.
“The Gaza war and the Palestinian cause occupy a major place in Jordanian elections, as all eyes and minds are on Gaza and Palestine and the massacres taking place there against the Palestinian people,” said IAF candidate Saleh Armouti.
He told AFP the elections “serve the Palestinian cause and the region, but I also fear that there will be some abstention from voting due to these events.”
Oraib Rantawi, head of the Amman-based Al Quds Center for Political Studies, agreed that turnout was likely to be hit but said significant Islamist gains were unlikely.
“The improvement in these forces’ status and parliamentary representation will be modest,” he told AFP.
Jordanians vote in election overshadowed by Gaza war
https://arab.news/pysvc
Jordanians vote in election overshadowed by Gaza war
- Of Jordan’s 11 million people, 5.1 million are registered voters aged over 18
Israeli strikes kill 47 people in eastern Lebanon, official says
- Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said at least 47 were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region
- In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya
BEIRUT/JERUSALEM: Israeli strikes killed at least 47 people in eastern Lebanon on Thursday, a Lebanese official said, pressing the campaign against the Iran-backed Hezbollah group as a US mediator sought to advance ceasefire talks in Israel.
US mediator Amos Hochstein, who said a ceasefire was “within our grasp” during a visit to Lebanon on Tuesday, met Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defense Minister Israel Katz. There were no immediate statements.
Indicating there were still gaps to close, a senior Lebanese official told Reuters that Beirut had sought changes to the US ceasefire proposal, to include ensuring a speedier withdrawal of Israeli forces from south Lebanon.
The diplomacy marks the most serious attempt yet to end the conflict between Israel and the heavily armed, Iran-backed Hezbollah, part of the regional spillover of the Gaza war that erupted more than a year ago.
Bachir Khodr, governor of Lebanon’s Baalbek-Hermel province, said at least 47 were killed and 22 wounded in Israeli strikes in the Baalbek region. Posting on X, he said rescue operations were underway. The region bordering Syria is an area of Lebanon where Shiite Islamist Hezbollah holds sway.
Beirut shook as Israeli airstrikes hit the Hezbollah-controlled southern suburbs about a dozen times, sending up clouds of debris, in some of the most intense airstrikes yet.
Residents have largely fled the area since Israel went on the offensive against Hezbollah in September.
The Israeli army said its strikes were against Hezbollah infrastructure and that it had mitigated civilian harm through advance warnings and other steps.
In Israel, a 30-year-old man was killed when shrapnel from a rocket struck a playground in the northern town of Nahariya, Israel’s MDA medical service said.
“The Israeli government is not safeguarding my security, my residents or the residents of the north (of Israel). It is not possible to live in such a situation like this,” Nahariya Mayor Ronen Marelly told public broadcaster Kansas
The Israeli military said about 10 rockets were launched from Lebanon toward Nahariya. “Most of the projectiles were intercepted and fallen projectiles were identified,” the military said in a statement.
Channel 12 said three rockets hit the coastal town.
Hezbollah’s Al-Manar television station, citing its correspondent, confirmed rocket fire toward Nahariya and the surrounding area.
White House envoy Hochstein left for Israel after declaring progress in two days of talks in Lebanon with officials including Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri, endorsed to negotiate by Hezbollah. Speaking before he left Beirut, Hochstein said he was going to Israel to try to close an agreement if possible.
BATTLE OF KHIYAM
The diplomacy aims to end a conflict that has inflicted massive devastation in Lebanon since Israel began its offensive, mounting airstrikes across wide parts of the country and sending troops into the south.
Footage broadcast by Al Jazeera showed thick smoke rising from the town of Khiyam in southern Lebanon, some 6 km (4 miles) from the border, a focal point of ground battles between Hezbollah fighters and Israeli troops.
Israel says its aim is to secure the return home of tens of thousands of people evacuated from its north due to rocket attacks by Hezbollah, which opened fire in support of Hamas at the start of the Gaza war in October 2023.
Hezbollah, which has suffered major blows since Israel began its offensive in September, has kept up rocket fire into Israel, attacking Tel Aviv this week. Its fighters are battling Israeli troops on the ground in the south.
The casualty toll since Oct. 2023 stands at 3,583 people killed in Lebanon, the Lebanese health ministry says, most of them killed during the Israeli offensive since September. The figures do not distinguish between combatants and civilians. The ministry said 25 fatalities were reported on Wednesday.
Hezbollah strikes have killed more than 100 people in northern Israel and the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights. They include more than 70 soldiers killed in strikes in northern Israel and the Golan Heights and in combat in southern Lebanon, according to Israel.
Amid Israeli incursion into southern Lebanon, airstrikes hit Beirut’s southern suburbs
- Lebanon’s official National News Agency reported three raids “within the third round of strikes on the southern suburbs today“
- AFPTV footage showed columns of smoke rising from the area, usually a densely populated residential district but now largely emptied
BEIRUT: Fierce battles between the Israeli army and Hezbollah erupted in the town of Khiam and on the outskirts of the town of Biyyadah in Lebanon on Thursday.
Israeli resumed intense airstrikes in the morning on Beirut’s southern suburbs and villages in the Baalbek-Hermel governorate, following a pause that coincided with US envoy Amos Hochstein’s 48-hour visit to Beirut before heading to Tel Aviv.
Hezbollah continued its attacks on northern Israel, with rockets reaching Nahariya. According to medics and doctors with Magen David Adom, these attacks “killed a 30-year-old man due to rocket fire.”
Lebanon has been hit by large-scale Israeli attacks since Sept. 23.
Israel has been targeting Hezbollah headquarters, civilian homes in southern villages, pursuing displaced persons to their new locations, and destroying entire neighborhoods in Beirut’s southern suburbs, the southern border region, towns deep in the south, and villages in Baalbek-Hermel.
The attacks have also struck Beirut multiple times. The total death toll since the start of the confrontations has surpassed 3,520, with 14,940 injured.
The clashes in the south have been concentrated between the town of Chamaa and the coastal town of Biyyadah, following the capture of Chamaa.
Hezbollah said that its members “repelled a new Israeli force’s advance attempt at the southern outskirts of Chamaa toward Biyyadah.”
A fierce battle also raged in Khiam, amid reports on Wednesday night suggesting that the town had fallen to the Israeli army. However, Hezbollah reported “ongoing battles on four fronts, employing all types of weapons.”
Security reports indicated that the Israeli army “is conducting large-scale demolitions in Khiam, blowing up houses and residential buildings during its incursion into the town.”
Controlling Khiam is significant, as it is a strategic city located on top of the Al-Hamames Hill, 500 meters above sea level. Khiam is also one of the biggest cities in southern Lebanon in area, which allows the Israeli army to oversee northern Israel on one side and the Golan Heights on the other.
An Israeli raid on the Khardali road, which connects Nabatieh to Marjaayoun and is considered a Hezbollah supply road, blocked it completely.
Meanwhile, Israeli warplanes carried out destructive aerial strikes in stages against Beirut’s southern suburbs on Thursday morning.
The strikes were preceded by a series of evacuation warnings issued to the residents of Ghobeiri, Hadath, Haret Hreik, Bir Abed and Kafaat.
The raids destroyed a significant number of residential buildings and commercial shops. They also reached a building adjacent to a special needs school in Kafaat.
The Israeli army claimed that it “targeted Hezbollah command headquarters and infrastructure in Beirut’s southern suburbs.”
Raids on Younin, northern Bekaa, killed at least four people after they targeted an inhabited house without prior warning.
The Israeli raids included Brital, Makneh, Nahleh, Chaat in the Anti-Lebanon mountains, and Bouday in the western mountain range.
Dozens of citizens received mysterious calls on Wednesday night instructing them to evacuate their homes in Beirut’s neighborhoods and Mount Lebanon, including Mazraat Yachouh in Metn, where there is no Hezbollah presence.
The calls caused confusion, as residents of entire neighborhoods waited on the streets for officials confirmations. The calls were seen as “part of a psychological warfare.”
On the eve of Lebanon’s 81st Independence Day, army chief Joseph Aoun said that “Lebanon will always revolt against its enemies and those who mess with its safety and sovereignty, notably the Israeli enemy.”
Aoun said that the anniversary came amid a destructive and brutal war waged by the Israeli enemy for more than a year, resulting in thousands being wounded, and the displacement of people from their villages and towns in the south, the Bekaa and Beirut.
“As the enemy persists in its daily violations and aggressions, efforts are intensifying to reach a ceasefire that would bring calm to our country, paving the way for the return of our people in the south to their land and the rest of the displaced to their homes.”
Aoun said that the army was “still deployed in the south, where soldiers make sacrifices and give their lives for Lebanon. We will not abandon it because it is an integral part of national sovereignty, and it operates in coordination with UNIFIL under the framework of Resolution 1701. The army also stands by its people and citizens, fulfilling its national duty and continuing its missions despite challenges and dangers.”
He said that “there is no turning back, and there is no fear for the army, which will remain steadfast by the side of the Lebanese despite all circumstances, protecting Lebanon and defending its security, stability and sovereignty. The army will continue to embrace all Lebanese from different backgrounds, standing equally by each one of them.”
Libya’s Derna hosts theater festival year after flash flood
- Nizar Al-Aned, artistic director of the Derna Festival, said organizers had “insisted that the festival take place, even if the theater is still under construction” to rebuild it
- Tunisian comedian Abir Smiti said it was her first time at the event
DERNA, Libya: A year after a flash flood ripped through Derna and killed thousands of people, the coastal Libyan city is hosting a theater festival with a message of hope.
The city in the war-torn country’s east is still reeling from the flooding that destroyed historic buildings, including Libya’s oldest theater where the festival was held in previous years.
Nizar Al-Aned, artistic director of the Derna Festival, said organizers had “insisted that the festival take place, even if the theater is still under construction” to rebuild it.
Now, back after a pause due to the September 2023 floods, the festival’s sixth edition is being held this week under the slogan: “Derna is back, Derna is hope.”
With five theater troupes from Libya, and one each from neighboring Egypt and Tunisia, the event has drawn artists, comedians and visitors from across the Arab world.
Tunisian comedian Abir Smiti said it was her first time at the event.
“To me, Derna is a discovery,” she told AFP.
“When you just arrive, you can feel the pain, but at the same time there’s joy. You can feel how everyone has hope.”
Once home to about 120,000 inhabitants, the wall of water that swept through Derna last year killed nearly 4,000 people, left thousands missing and displaced more than 40,000 others, according to the United Nations.
It was the result of extreme rainfall from hurricane-strength Storm Daniel, which had caused two dams to burst inland from the city that lies some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) east of the capital Tripoli.
Libya is still grappling with the aftermath of the 2011 NATO-backed uprising that toppled long-time dictator Muammar Qaddafi.
The chaos that ensued saw the rise of jihadist movements, with Derna coming under the control of Al-Qaeda and later the Daesh group before they were chased out by 2018.
The North African country remains split between two rival administrations.
The divisions have complicated the emergency response and reconstruction efforts.
Derna is under the eastern administration backed by military strongman Khalifa Haftar, whose son Belgacem Haftar has been the figurehead for reconstruction in the city.
At the theater festival, jury member Hanane Chouehidi told AFP that “despite the drama, the deaths and the destruction,” she was confident Derna could be rebuilt.
“Derna deserves to be beautiful, just as its residents deserve to be happy,” she said.
Israeli foreign minister says ICC “lost all legitimacy” with Netanyahu, Gallant ruling
- “A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X
- French foreign ministry’s spokesman Christophe Lemoine said their reaction will be in line with the court’s statutes
JERUSALEM: The International Criminal Court has “lost all legitimacy” after issuing arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, Israel’s Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday.
“A dark moment for the International Criminal Court,” Saar said on X, adding that it had issued “absurd orders without authority.”
Meanwhile, Netanyahu’s office rejected the ICC’s decision to issue arrest warrants against him and his former defense chief, describing them as “anti-Semitic.”
“Israel rejects with disgust the absurd and false actions leveled against it by ICC,” his office said in a statement, adding Israel won’t “give in to pressure” in the defense of its citizens.
When asked during a news conference if France would arrest Netanyahu, the French foreign ministry’s spokesman Christophe Lemoine said their reaction will be in line with the court’s statutes, but declined to say whether France would arrest the leader if he came to the country.
“It’s a point that is legally complex so I’m not going to comment on it today,” he said.
Displaced by war, cancer patients in Lebanon struggle for survival
BEIRUT: Lebanese small business owner Ahmad Fahess thought nothing could be more devastating than his cancer diagnosis until suddenly, while he was at work one day, Israeli airstrikes started targeting his town of Nabatieh in south Lebanon.
When he saw the tangled mess around him, he knew he had to grab his family and flee.
“We want to go back to our homes, to our work,” he said, breaking into tears as he received cancer treatment at the American University of Beirut’s Medical Center (AUBMC), his sister sitting next to his bed.
Israel launched a broad attack on southern Lebanon in September, almost a year after Iran-backed Hezbollah militants there stepped up their rocket fire on northern Israel as Israeli forces fought Hamas gunmen who had attacked Israel from Gaza.
Washington is trying to broker a ceasefire but Israel says it must be able to continue defending itself. It says Hezbollah uses civilians as human shields, something the militants deny.
A father of two teenagers who owned four welding shops in Nabatieh, Fahess is now not only unsure when he will be able to go home, but also how long he will be able to access treatment for the rare cancer, sarcoma, which affects the connective tissue in his left arm.
“I used to come three days to Beirut for treatment and go back home,” he said. “Now with the war, we were displaced, and the treatment struggle started.”
Thousands of cancer patients are among more than a million people who have fled their homes.
“It all happened very quickly. We were at work when the shelling started; we were surprised by it,” he said. He fled with his family to Antelias in Mount Lebanon with only $4,500 that quickly dwindled.
Fahess now depends on the hospital’s Cancer Support Fund, a charity initiative launched in 2018 to assist cancer patients and now also giving extra support to displaced individuals.
“The treatment is costly; if the hospital didn’t help me, I couldn’t have afforded it,” he said.
But he is worried about funding drying up. “If we have to pay and we’re back at our homes, it would be fine, but if we are still displaced, it’ll be impossible,” he said.
Lebanon’s health ministry said more than 2,500 displaced cancer patients have been forced to find new treatment centers, as at least eight hospitals in southern Lebanon and Beirut’s southern suburbs were out of action due to Israeli shelling.
Cancer was already expensive to treat under Lebanon’s health care system, which in recent years has been battered further by economic crisis.
It is now under severe strain, said Ali Taher, the director of the Naef K. Basile Cancer Institute at AUBMC, adding that treating displaced patients has brought new complications, including finding their missing medical records and doctors.
“It’s also difficult to get cancer screening ahead of time because it’s no longer a priority for people,” Taher said.
Ghazaleh Naddaf, 67, was displaced from the southern village of Debel. Now living with her brother in Beirut, the former pharmacist assistant lost her job and has been unable to afford her therapy for multiple myeloma for two months.
“I am skipping treatment and medication,” she said. “I used to come twice a week for treatment, paying over $1,000. I can’t afford it anymore,” adding that she also needs a bone marrow transplant costing $50,000, an expense far beyond her reach.
“It’s war, and there is no safety, and I still need to go through the treatment to get on with my life,” she said.
Hala Dahdah Abou Jaber, co-founder of the Cancer Support Fund, said displaced cancer patients have to choose between basic necessities and life-threatening therapies and many can no longer co-pay for their treatment.
“Cancer doesn’t wait. Cancer is not a disease that gives you time; it’s harsh,” she said.
