9/8/2024–|Last update: 10/8/202411:19 AM (Makkah Time)
The newspaper “Israel Today” 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 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.
Jordanian denial
In return, the Jordanian government confirmed that the waters of the Yarmouk River and King Abdullah Canal are free of any pollution, indicating that laboratory tests are conducted periodically according to a specific program and in rotation between ministries and official institutions to ensure the safety of the water on an ongoing basis, according to the official Jordanian News Agency (Petra).
Minister of State for Media Affairs and Government Spokesperson Muhannad Al-Mubaideen said that specialized committees in the Ministry of Water and Irrigation, the Water Authority, Agriculture and Health have concluded that the programs for monitoring water sources and ensuring their quality and safety of the Yarmouk River water and the King Abdullah Canal water are sound and conform to the Jordanian water specifications and are completely free of any indicators of pollution, especially “cholera.”
He explained that the technical committees took samples from the entrance to the tunnel under the Yarmouk River, which supplies the King Abdullah Canal, and that all tests from various parties were consistent in confirming the safety of the river and canal water, and consequently the safety of drinking water and irrigation water for crops, according to the Jordanian specification.
The Minister added that the Ministry of Water – through the Water Authority, Laboratories and Quality Affairs, and the laboratories of the Jordan Water Company, in addition to the environmental health laboratories at the Ministry of Health – is implementing an advanced monitoring program on the canal waters and a number of sensitive water sources and from the outlets of sewage treatment plants in all governorates to monitor cholera bacteria, which began implementation in September 2022, and the program is still ongoing to date.
He pointed out that the Ministry of Agriculture conducted a number of tests on the water used in agriculture in a number of laboratories, and no “pathogenic cholera” was recorded in the water, in addition to samples of soil and fruit trees.
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.
