Newspaper: Israel stops importing fruits and vegetables from Jordan | News

The newspaper “Israel Hayom” revealed that the Ministry of Health in Israel decided to stop importing fruits and vegetables from Jordan, after the discovery of cholera bacteria in the waters of the Yarmouk River and in some agricultural products imported from there.

The Israeli Ministry of Health said, according to the newspaper, that “one of the accredited laboratories discovered positive results for cholera in a water sample taken from the Yarmouk River, and therefore decided to take precautionary measures, and stopped the import of shipments of fruits and vegetables from Jordan at this stage.”

The ministry added that it is waiting to receive information from the authorities in Jordan regarding the source of water used in agricultural crops, so that it can make a final decision.

The newspaper expected that the decision would lead to an increase in the prices of agricultural products in Israel, especially cucumbers and tomatoes that it imports from Jordan, due to the scarcity of crops since the beginning of the war on Gaza and the cessation of exports from Türkiye.

There was no immediate comment from Amman on what was reported by the Israeli newspaper.

Popular anger

Last December, photos published by Hebrew sources of Jordanian-origin vegetables in Israeli markets sparked a wave of disapproval in the Jordanian street, as some varieties, such as cucumbers and zucchini, had stickers indicating local Jordanian companies located in the capital, Amman, and the Jordan Valley border region.

In response, hundreds of people gathered in the northern Jordanian city of Irbid, about 30 kilometers from the border, denouncing the export of Jordanian vegetables to the Israeli market, and demanding that the government take a clear decision to prevent this.

At the time, Jordanian government spokesman Muhannad Mobaideen told Al Jazeera Net that “the issue of preventing the export of goods is not within the government’s jurisdiction, as it cannot stop the activity of any merchant,” noting that the borders are not closed and the ministry does not exercise oversight.

Mobaideen added: “Just as the boycott is an individual choice that we cannot force people to stop, the same is the case in this matter, as we cannot prevent the merchant, and he can sue the government if it prevents him.”

With American support, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza since October 7, leaving more than 131,000 Palestinian martyrs and wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 10,000 missing, amidst massive destruction and deadly famine.

In contempt of the international community, Tel Aviv continues the war, ignoring the UN Security Council resolution to stop it immediately, and the International Court of Justice’s orders to take measures to prevent acts of genocide and to improve the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza.