Int'l community chose to manage Palestinian-Israeli conflict rather than resolve it, Jordanian king says

The international community avoided resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and instead chose to manage it, Jordan's King Abdullah II said on Tuesday during a speech at the UN General Assembly.

"For decades I stood before this assembly and warned of the dangers of leaving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict unresolved. But the international community chose to manage the conflict, not confront it," Abdullah said in a speech at the 81st session of the assembly in New York.

He said every new Israeli violation was initially treated as temporary, "until temporary became permanent, and permanent became policy."

The forced displacement of Palestinians in the occupied West Bank amounts to a "war crime," the Jordanian king underlined, describing the developments there as a "fundamental shift" rather than simply an escalation.

Noting that Israel continues to expand its illegal settlements in the West Bank and subject Palestinians to "subjugation," Abdullah said the ongoing settlement expansion, violence and displacement were "elements of a single policy" aimed at forcing Palestinians to leave their land.

At least 300 Palestinian children were killed during the first 300 days of the Gaza ceasefire, he noted, adding that Jordanian field hospitals were also targeted.