Israeli FM Katz repeats calls for border wall with Jordan
Soldiers stand guard in a watchtower flying Jordanian flags, in the area of ​​Baqoura near the Israeli-Jordanian, border, Wednesday, Nov. 13, 2019. (AP File Photo)


Israel's Foreign Minister Israel Katz called for speeding up the construction of the border wall with Jordan.

In a statement, Katz said the wall "must be expedited to prevent the smuggling of weapons from Jordan into Israel, which threatens both the Jordanian regime and the State of Israel."

He claimed that Iran is cooperating with Hamas members in Lebanon "to smuggle weapons and funds into Jordan with the aim of destabilizing the regime."

There was no immediate comment from Jordan on the Israeli minister’s claim.

Katz called on Wednesday for evacuating the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank and "handling it similarly" to the Gaza Strip.

He added during a closed-door meeting that building a barrier with Jordan will help stop what he called smuggling through the eastern border.

His call came amid rising tensions across the West Bank due to Israel’s ongoing offensive on the Gaza Strip, which killed nearly 40,000 people, mostly women and children, since an Oct. 7 Hamas attack.

At least 620 Palestinians have since been killed and nearly 5,400 others injured by Israeli army fire in the occupied territory, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark advisory opinion on July 19, the International Court of Justice declared Israel's decades-long occupation of Palestinian land "illegal" and demanded the evacuation of all existing settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.