CrossFireArarbia

What’s The Condom Story to Gaza All About?

CrossFireArabia
January 29, 2025

White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt on Tuesday defended President Donald Trump’s order to freeze federal funding, claiming that $50 million had been earmarked for the distribution of condoms in the besieged Gaza Strip.

However, a review of the latest publicly available data from the US Agency for International Development (USAID) on condom shipments, covering 2023, reveals no such shipments to Gaza.

In fact, the only shipment to the Middle East that year was a $45,680 delivery to Jordan, which was noted as the first condom shipment to the region since 2019.

The Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) and the Office of Management and Budget (OMB) found “that there was about to be 50 million taxpayer dollars that went out the door to fund condoms in Gaza,” Leavitt told reporters during her inaugural press conference. “That is a preposterous waste of taxpayer money.”

But she did not provide any evidence to support the claim. Anadolu reached out to the White House for clarification but did not immediately receive a response.

USAID’s 2023 report shows that the US delivered over $60 million in contraceptives and condoms globally, with 89% of funds directed to Africa, 9% Asia and 2% to Latin America.

The Trump administration has frozen nearly all foreign assistance programs for at least 90 days, sending shockwaves across the world as countries grapple with an abrupt halt to a range of programs funded by Washington, from development to humanitarian assistance. The US is the largest source of international assistance.

The order, however, includes exceptions for Israel and Egypt, which annually receive $3.3 billion and $1.3 billion in foreign military financing, respectively according to Anadolu.

News

Israel Orders UNRWA Shutdown in Jerusalem

CrossFireArabia
January 28, 2025

Israel’s UN ambassador, Danny Danon, announced on Tuesday that the Israeli government will sever all ties with the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA). Danon demanded the agency cease operations and vacate all its facilities in Jerusalem within 48 hours.

UNRWA plays a critical role in providing healthcare and education in the occupied Palestinian territories. Since the outbreak of the genocide in Gaza on October 7, 2023, the agency has supplied 60% of the food entering the besieged strip.

Danon’s statement came ahead of a UN Security Council meeting discussing Israel’s recent legislation to end UNRWA’s legal presence in Palestine. The law, passed by the Knesset, takes effect on January 30.

“The law prohibits UNRWA from operating within Israel’s sovereign borders and bans any communication between Israeli officials and the agency,” Danon said. He emphasized that Israel will terminate all cooperation and communication with UNRWA or any entity representing it.

Danon also informed Security Council members that Israel will stop collaborating with UNRWA within 48 hours. He insisted the agency must halt its activities and evacuate its facilities in occupied Jerusalem.

UNRWA Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini addressed the Security Council, warning that the ongoing attacks on the agency harm the lives and futures of Palestinians across the occupied territories. “This undermines their trust in the international community and jeopardizes any prospects for peace and security,” he said.

Lazzarini highlighted that 650,000 Palestinian students in Gaza have been out of school for nearly two years. He stressed the urgent need for UNRWA to continue supporting them.

Ahead of the law taking effect, Danon told reporters, “Israel will halt all ties with UNRWA and anyone acting on its behalf as of January 30.” He clarified that the decision was not made lightly or hastily, calling it a “necessary” move rather than a political one according to the Quds News Network.

News

Why is Netanyahu Invited to The White House?

CrossFireArabia
January 28, 2025

US President Donald Trump invited Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to a meeting in the White House on Feb. 4, the prime minister’s office said on Tuesday.

“Prime Minister Netanyahu is the first foreign leader to be invited to the White House during US President Trump’s second term,” the office added.

On Monday, Trump said that Netanyahu will visit the US “very soon.”

Recently, Trump proposed moving Palestinians out of the Gaza Strip and said Jordan and Egypt should take more Palestinians from Gaza, which has drawn sharp criticism.

Both countries reiterated their rejection of the resettlement of Palestinians after Trump’s call to “clean out” the enclave.

Hell…

“When you look at the Gaza Strip, it’s been hell for so many years…There have been various civilizations on that strip. It didn’t start here. It started thousands of years before, and there’s always been violence associated with it. You could get people living in areas that are a lot safer and maybe a lot better and maybe a lot more comfortable,” Trump told reporters on Monday.

Trump’s proposal came a week after a ceasefire agreement took effect in Gaza on Jan. 19, suspending Israel’s genocidal war that has killed more than 47,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children, and injured more than 111,000 since Oct. 7, 2023.

The Israeli onslaught has left more than 11,000 people missing, with widespread destruction and a humanitarian crisis that has claimed the lives of many elderly people and children in one of the worst global humanitarian disasters ever.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants in November last year for 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 the enclave according to Anadolu.

Opinion

Jordan’s Ex-deputy PM Responds to Trump’s Gaza Statements

CrossFireArabia
January 28, 2025

“The US aid to Jordan is not free, but linked to America benefiting from its military bases on the land of the Kingdom,” Jordan’s ex-Deputy Prime Minister Dr. Mamdouh Al-Abadi responded to the statement made by United States President Donald Trump’s about the possibility of transferring Gaza residents to Jordan according to the assawsana Arabic website.

“If the US wanted to pay only the rent for the land, it would have needed to pay a much larger amount than the amount of aid provided to Jordan,” he added in a press statement.

نائب رئيس وزراء أردني أسبق يرد على ترامبhttps://t.co/8fwJSqkx6M #السوسنة #عاجل #الأردن #ترامب #غزة pic.twitter.com/QWxegHiAeN
— Assawsana News (@assawsanaNews) January 28, 2025

“The United States of America wants to use aid to pressure governments and countries to accept its dictates.” He stressed Jordan’s position, which King Abdullah II has repeatedly announced, is clear and explicit in rejecting any attempts to displace the Palestinian people.

Al-Abadi stressed the US president will not continue to pressure Jordan but back down from his demands and statements, as happened in the decision to withdraw from the World Health Organization. He expected that the decision to stop aid will not last for more than three months.

He stressed that Trump’s statements will not change the reality on the ground at all for the people of Gaza remain steadfast on their land and the Palestinian people will not submit to any dictates or pressures to displace, and the interviews on television screens with the people of Gaza are the greatest response to the occupation and to what Trump said.

Al Abadi stressed the scenes of people returning to their towns in north Gaza, Monday, are the greatest response to the Trump utterings and that of the occupation government regarding the displacement of the Palestinian people. He described the scenes of people returning as a historic event that expresses the legendary steadfastness of such great people and the victory over the enemy.

He added the message of the Gazan is reaching the whole world as clinging to their land and no Israeli army, American, or any other force in the world can expel them, as their slogan has become either ‘death or land,’ and do not accept any alternative to their homeland, neither to Jordan nor Egypt.

Opinion

‘Not Displacement But a Two-State Solution’

CrossFireArabia
January 28, 2025

By Khaled Shaqran

Jordan’s posture on the Palestinian question has always been firm and clear: Jordan is not, and will never be, an alternative homeland for Palestinians.

This position is not merely a political statement but a historical commitment rooted in the principle of justice and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. Jordan rejects any attempt to liquidate the Palestinian cause or deny the rights of Palestinians under whatsoever pretext.

In reality, Jordan, which has historically served as a safe haven for those fleeing wars and persecution, is already under immense pressure on its resources and infrastructure due to the accumulated influx of refugees from successive waves of migration. It cannot bear the burden of accommodating more refugees or the multifaceted challenges their presence would bring.

Aside from President Trump fund raising through promises, let's see what the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan thinks about this.https://t.co/OWK8jKCn6G
— Stephen Gluck (@ESynth7) January 28, 2025

The Palestinian people cannot abandon their homeland, no matter the pressures or threats they face. For Palestinians, their land is not merely territory but identity, history, and shared destiny. They will continue to hold onto it until their legitimate rights are realized. Palestinians will not relinquish an inch of their land, neither through enticement nor intimidation, and will persist in their struggle to achieve their dream of freedom and justice.

No short-term solutions would resolve the issue and end the long-running conflict, as some believe.

While the United States, as a global power, can propose initiatives and exert political pressure, it can never erase an entire people and their just cause. Despite the systematic killing, repression, destruction, and unprecedented exclusionary practices supported by some influential international powers, the Palestinian people have never stopped and will never stop fighting for their legitimate rights, paramount of which is the end of the occupation and the establishment of an independent state of their own.

It is also crucial for the international community to understand that the Palestinian issue is not merely a regional conflict that can be resolved through short-lived settlements. It is a human rights issue tied to the lives of an entire people and their ongoing struggle for freedom and independence. Therefore, any solution that does not rest on the foundation of comprehensive justice will fail and will not bring lasting peace. The only solution to this conflict is a just and comprehensive peace that guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.

The two-state solution is the only viable formula that enjoys international consensus and reflects the will of the region’s peoples for coexistence in peace and security. Palestine, as both land and cause, is not negotiable or to be ever terminated, and Palestinian rights are historical and legitimate, beyond the power of any force to erase or deny.

It is historically inevitable all occupations eventually end, and it is time for the international community to recognize that this conflict cannot be resolved through displacement, killing, or destruction, but by achieving justice for the Palestinian people. Any solution that does not rely on the two-state framework will remain unattainable. The Palestinian cause will persist as a struggle for rights and freedom, and the region will not enjoy security, stability, or peace until the Palestinian people obtain their legitimate rights and establish their independent state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Khaled Shaqran is a columnist in the Jordan Times