By: Dr. Sabir Abu Maryam
Secretary General, Palestine Foundation Pakistan
The ongoing Israeli aggression on Gaza since October 2023 has not only turned the land of Gaza into rubble but has also exposed the true faces of several Arab states in the region. As Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar once said, “The battle of Gaza will expose everyone.” Today, indeed, all stand exposed friends and foes alike, as well as the hypocrites hiding within their own ranks.
This article highlights one such actor, Jordan, whose conduct during the genocide in Gaza has been nothing short of hypocritical and duplicitous.
Among those who stabbed Gaza in the back, Jordan stands out portraying itself as a sympathizer and supporter of the Palestinian people on one hand, while maintaining deep military and intelligence cooperation with Israel on the other. Since October 2023, as Israel has committed mass atrocities and genocide against Palestinians, Jordan has remained complicit. Global analysts have aptly described Jordan’s stance as “aid by day, airstrikes by night” a perfect reflection of its double standard.
During the war, Jordan tried to project itself to the world as a humanitarian nation. It sent aid planes, established field hospitals, and issued official statements of solidarity with Palestinians. However, behind this façade lay a complex web of military and diplomatic duplicity gradually exposed by Western media and U.S. intelligence reports.
According to these reports, while Israeli warplanes rained bombs on Gaza, Jordan’s airspace remained open to Israeli jets on multiple occasions. Air bases in Jordan were also used under U.S. CENTCOM operations. Furthermore, when Israel attacked Iran and Tehran launched retaliatory missile strikes, it was Jordan that intercepted several Iranian missiles over its own territory to defend Israel. Sources confirm that the Jordanian government reached a quiet understanding with the U.S. and Israel, allowing its airspace to serve as an emergency route or operational corridor ostensibly in the name of regional security, but in reality, in full support of Israel’s war strategy.
At the same time, humanitarian convoys were dispatched from Jordanian soil, yet American warplanes were taking off from Jordanian bases to assist Israel and its allies in regional operations. U.S. installations such as the Azraq Air Base and facilities near Mafraq long under Washington’s use saw unprecedented activity during the Gaza war.
The Jordanian government neither commented on nor denied these operations, further deepening doubts about its true position.
Political analysts argue that the Jordanian regime is pursuing a fragile balancing act: maintaining a public image of solidarity with Palestinians while safeguarding its military and economic ties with Israel and the United States.
Within Jordan, however, the majority of citizens strongly support the Palestinians. Thousands took to the streets in Amman and Zarqa, demanding the severance of diplomatic ties with Israel and the cancellation of the Wadi Araba Agreement. Yet, King Abdullah II’s government ignored these demands and instead imposed restrictions on protests. Anti-Israel content on social media was censored, and several activists were detained.
This raises the question: Aid for Gaza or hypocrisy?
Jordan’s announcements of assistance to Gaza were largely political theatre. In 2024, the Jordanian military claimed to have conducted 40 air-drop missions for humanitarian aid. However, independent sources reported that most of these missions either failed or had minimal impact, delivering little to no tangible relief to the besieged population.
According to international analysts, Jordan’s conduct can be summarized as “aid for the people, alliance for Israel.” On one hand, it proclaimed humanitarian concern; on the other, it quietly aided Israel’s military objectives.
In truth, Jordan’s betrayal of Muslim and Palestinian causes is not new, it is a continuation of the same historical pattern that began with the Arab nationalist movements used to dismantle the Ottoman Empire. Secret relations between Jordan and Israel are also not a recent phenomenon. In 1973, King Hussein informed Israeli Prime Minister Golda Meir of Syrian and Egyptian troop movements prior to the Yom Kippur War, a betrayal that caused severe losses to Arab forces. This covert cooperation was later formalized in the 1994 Wadi Araba Treaty, which entrenched Jordan’s economic and security dependence on Israel, a dependency that continues to this day.
Ultimately, Jordan’s duplicity has backfired. By pretending to be a friend of the Palestinians while secretly aligning with U.S. and Israeli military operations, Jordan has alienated its own people and damaged its image as a neutral player in the region.
Today, across the Arab and Muslim world, many view the Jordanian monarchy as a lineage of betrayal, the traitor son of a traitor, son of a traitor, whose legacy continues to serve the interests of Israel at the expense of Palestine and the broader Arab cause.
