Jordan condemns Israeli Gaza offensive

Jordan on Thursday condemned the ongoing Israeli massive ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

Jordanian government spokesman Nasser Judeh said that Jordan was upset by the continuation of the Israeli military operation against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, slamming it as "a collective punishment."

Jordan also condemned the arrest campaign in the occupied West Bank, Judeh added, urging Israel to stop its operations in the Palestinian territories and calling on the two sides to exercise restraint to avoid escalation of violence.

The Jordanian government spokesman also urged Israel to "give a real chance" to efforts aimed to revive the long-stalled peace process.

He also called upon all the Palestinian factions to deal with the situation "in a way that serves the higher Palestinian interests and the Palestinian people."

The Israeli army started a broad ground operation into the Gaza Strip on early Wednesday in a bid to rescue an Israeli soldier kidnapped by Palestinian militants on Sunday.

Israeli troops also launched a large-scale arrest campaign in the West Bank on early Thursday, detaining eight ministers of the Hamas-led Palestinian government and over 20 Hamas legislators in a move to mount pressures on the Palestinian government over the abduction case.

Source: Xinhua