Day: May 9, 2021

About 80 percent of the respondents to a public poll by the Energy and Minerals Regulatory Commission (EMRC) indicated that they want cooking gas cylinders to be ordered via a dedicated smart app or a telephone call.

They also voted against the current mode of cooking gas delivery which relies on vehicles that roam the streets while playing classic music. According to an EMRC statement, about 5,012 of the respondents indicated they want to see a dedicated smartphone they can use to order gas cylinders, while 2,500 voted to the use of telephone calls.

Although the poll may not be considered statistically sufficient to be nationally representative given the relatively small size of all respondents (9,440), about 1,928 of the respondents voted to keep the current mode of delivery in place.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Major Gen. Yousef Huneiti, said the Jordan Armed Forces-Arab Army (JAF) are at the “highest levels of operational, training and logistical preparedness” and are ready to deal with all challenges.

Huneiti noted the JAF’s General Command is following up “practically and continuously” with the army’s field leaders in regard to all necessary measures that contribute “effectively and constructively” to meet all needs of the border military units.

Speaking during a meeting Sunday, at the Royal Military College (RMC), to the army’s battalion leaders, attended by a number of senior JAF officers, Huneiti praised the “great” efforts made by the border unit leaders to protect the Kingdom’s security and stability.

Over the last period, the JAF were able to make a “distinguished, important” development in the field of armament, rehabilitation and training, and to address all the circumstances and challenges, which made its performance to stand out at the level of the regional armies and globally in a way that contributes to protecting the Kingdom’s borders and its citizens, according to Huneiti.

On the economic front, Huneiti said JAF completed many development projects during the Covid-19 crisis, which contributed “directly” to advancing the national economy and reducing unemployment rates by signing a number of agreements for this purpose.

The JAF also sought to modernize and develop all administrative aspects within the military formations and units, in a way that contributes to the “efficient and competent” implementation of their duties and tasks, Huneiti added.

Source: Jordan News Agency

The evictions of Palestinian families in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood and other areas of East Jerusalem are illegal under international humanitarian law and only serve to fuel tensions on the ground, EU ambassador to Jordan, Maria Hadjitheodosiou, said on Sunday.

In a wide ranging interview with the Jordan News Agency (Petra), Hadjitheodosiou indicated that tensions and violence in the occupied West Bank, particularly in East Jerusalem, have dangerously risen over the past few days, renewing the EU’s call that acts of incitement around the Al-Aqsa Mosque/Haram al-Sharif must be avoided and the status quo has to be respected.

She underlined the bloc’s call on the Israeli authorities to act urgently to de-escalate the current tensions in Jerusalem.

“The EU’s long term policy asserts that negotiations remain the best way forward, thus the EU works continuously with its partners, including Jordan, to re-launch peace negotiations. We recognize Jordan’s vital role in supporting the efforts for finding a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict,” the ambassador emphasized.

She noted that the recently-appointed EU Special Representative for the Middle East Peace Process Mr Sven Koopmans will now lead the EU’s efforts for the resumption of negotiations for a final settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, working closely with the UN and EU’s partners in the region, including Jordan.

Hadjitheodosiou said: “We believe that if an agreement to finally end the conflict were to be reached, the door would open to a deepened and enhanced cooperation among all the countries of the region.”

The resolution of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the ambassador stressed, is a fundamental interest of the EU. The EU’s objective is a two-state solution with an independent, democratic, viable and contiguous Palestinian state living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel and its other neighbors, saying: “The EU has consistently expressed its concerns about developments on the ground, which threaten to make a two-state solution impossible.”

“In our view, the only way to resolve the conflict is through an agreement that ends the occupation, which began in 1967, that ends all claims and that fulfills the aspirations of both parties. A lasting solution must be achieved on the basis of the relevant UN Security Council Resolutions, the Madrid principles including land for peace, the Roadmap, agreements previously reached by the parties and of the Arab Peace Initiative,” Hadjitheodosiou emphasized.

Source: Jordan News Agency

Chairman of the Senate Palestine Committee, Nayef Qadi, said the Israeli attacks on Al-Aqsa Mosque, Islamic and Christian holy sites in Jerusalem and the occupied Palestinian territories is a planned scheme to continue Tel Aviv’s policy to Judaize the holy city and displace its Arabs Muslims and Christians.

In a press statement issued Sunday, Qadi stressed the necessity to stop all attacks and provocative measures carried out by the occupying Israeli authorities and the Jewish settler groups.

Qadi stressed the need to make Israel “fully” adhere to international resolutions and laws, and respect the existing historical, legal status of Jerusalem’s holy sites.

Jordan, under the Hashemite leadership, has always supported the Palestinian people, he said, adding that the Kingdom will continue to back Palestinians to end Israel’s occupation.

Jordan’s effort in supporting struggle of the Palestinian people and their free will for independence will not stop until establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the Palestinian national soil with Jerusalem as its capital, Qadi pointed out.

To stop Israel’s belligerence, he called on the international community to take action to end Israeli occupation in Palestine, and to make peace, he noted.

Qadi urged the international community to push Israel return to the negotiating table with the Palestinian people, and recognize their legitimate rights.

Source: Jordan News Agency