In Jordan’s most impoverished Palestinian refugee camp, there is often little to celebrate for thousands of displaced residents.
Over the last two days, however, some of the inhabitants of the Gaza Camp north of Amman have been delving into their meagre cash holdings to distribute sweets to passers-by.
They are celebrating one of the most lethal attacks against Israel in the history of the conflict, which by some counts, may have killed between 400 and 600 people, mostly civilians. Israel, in turn, is bombarding the densely populated Gaza territory, where at least 300 have died in 48 hours.
“Everyone I know cannot believe it. We are flying from joy,” says Ibtisam, a manager of a charity at the camp, one of ten for Palestinian refugees in Jordan.
The surprise attack by the Iranian-supported Hamas militant group on Saturday also resulted in the capture of an unknown number of Israeli soldiers and non-combatants who have been taken hostage.
The news has been followed closely in Jordan. A large percentage of the kingdom’s 10 million population are descendants of Palestinians who fled the 1948 and 1967 conflicts with Israel.
Among them are the 50,000 inhabitants of the Gaza camp, who trace their origin to the strip.
The authorities in Jordan, which is dependent on US aid and has a peace treaty with Israel, have been vocal in their criticism of Israeli pressure on the Palestinians, which mounted in the last two years, with more focus on the West Bank.
But Jordanian officials have had to balance their rhetoric with what they perceive as the need to maintain ties with Israel, and pursuit of diplomatic means to obtain Palestinians rights, away from militant violence outrightly supported by Iran and its Middle East proxies.
Relatives in Gaza
Most people in the camp have relatives in Gaza, but they appeared little concerned about their fate, although thousands of civilians were killed in past Israeli retaliatory strikes against smaller operations by Hamas and other militant groups.
“You might find some Palestinian intellectuals saying that the attack will not change anything and will only bring more misery to Gaza,” says Ibtisam.
“This time it's different. Fear has been instilled in the Israelis, many will be thinking about leaving,” she says.
Like most people at the camp, Ibtisam has dozens of relatives in Gaza, itself populated mostly by refugees from elsewhere in Palestine.
Most of the Palestinians in Jordan have Jordanian citizenship and unimpeded right to work, except for refugees from Gaza, who fled to Jordan in the late 1960s, and their descendants.
Iman, who works illegally as a secretary in the nearby city of Jersah, is in contact with her cousins in Gaza on WhatsApp.
She says that they are not afraid.
“We are not afraid about them either. They have incredible faith,” she says. “Hamas took so many hostages this time, so Israel will have to be careful in its response”.
Jordan maintains channels with Hamas and has a 40-bed field hospital in Gaza, although the authorities expelled the group's leadership from the kingdom in the 1990s.
Ahmad, who is in his 20s and works intermittently as a driver, has several uncles and aunts in Gaza.
“After being surrounded for almost 20 years without electricity or water or jobs, they have nothing to lose,” he says.
“What happened yesterday is bound to serve the cause.”
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A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
The specs
- Engine: 3.9-litre twin-turbo V8
- Power: 640hp
- Torque: 760nm
- On sale: 2026
- Price: Not announced yet
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more from Janine di Giovanni
RESULT
Al Hilal 4 Persepolis 0
Khribin (31', 54', 89'), Al Shahrani 40'
Red card: Otayf (Al Hilal, 49')
Classification of skills
A worker is categorised as skilled by the MOHRE based on nine levels given in the International Standard Classification of Occupations (ISCO) issued by the International Labour Organisation.
A skilled worker would be someone at a professional level (levels 1 – 5) which includes managers, professionals, technicians and associate professionals, clerical support workers, and service and sales workers.
The worker must also have an attested educational certificate higher than secondary or an equivalent certification, and earn a monthly salary of at least Dh4,000.
COMPANY PROFILE
Founders: Alhaan Ahmed, Alyina Ahmed and Maximo Tettamanzi
Total funding: Self funded
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%3Cp%3E%3Cstrong%3ECompany%20name%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Fasset%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EStarted%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3E2019%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EFounders%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Mohammad%20Raafi%20Hossain%2C%20Daniel%20Ahmed%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EBased%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Dubai%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ESector%3A%20%3C%2Fstrong%3EFinTech%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInitial%20investment%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20%242.45%20million%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3ECurrent%20number%20of%20staff%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%2086%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestment%20stage%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Pre-series%20B%0D%3Cbr%3E%3Cstrong%3EInvestors%3A%3C%2Fstrong%3E%20Investcorp%2C%20Liberty%20City%20Ventures%2C%20Fatima%20Gobi%20Ventures%2C%20Primal%20Capital%2C%20Wealthwell%20Ventures%2C%20FHS%20Capital%2C%20VN2%20Capital%2C%20local%20family%20offices%3C%2Fp%3E%0A
Karwaan
Producer: Ronnie Screwvala
Director: Akarsh Khurana
Starring: Irrfan Khan, Dulquer Salmaan, Mithila Palkar
Rating: 4/5
The Al Barzakh Festival takes place on Wednesday and Thursday at 7.30pm in the Red Theatre, NYUAD, Saadiyat Island. Tickets cost Dh105 for adults from platinumlist.net
Sunday's Super Four matches
Dubai, 3.30pm
India v Pakistan
Abu Dhabi, 3.30pm
Bangladesh v Afghanistan
THREE POSSIBLE REPLACEMENTS
Khalfan Mubarak
The Al Jazira playmaker has for some time been tipped for stardom within UAE football, with Quique Sanchez Flores, his former manager at Al Ahli, once labelling him a “genius”. He was only 17. Now 23, Mubarak has developed into a crafty supplier of chances, evidenced by his seven assists in six league matches this season. Still to display his class at international level, though.
Rayan Yaslam
The Al Ain attacking midfielder has become a regular starter for his club in the past 15 months. Yaslam, 23, is a tidy and intelligent player, technically proficient with an eye for opening up defences. Developed while alongside Abdulrahman in the Al Ain first-team and has progressed well since manager Zoran Mamic’s arrival. However, made his UAE debut only last December.
Ismail Matar
The Al Wahda forward is revered by teammates and a key contributor to the squad. At 35, his best days are behind him, but Matar is incredibly experienced and an example to his colleagues. His ability to cope with tournament football is a concern, though, despite Matar beginning the season well. Not a like-for-like replacement, although the system could be adjusted to suit.
Navdeep Suri, India's Ambassador to the UAE
There has been a longstanding need from the Indian community to have a religious premises where they can practise their beliefs. Currently there is a very, very small temple in Bur Dubai and the community has outgrown this. So this will be a major temple and open to all denominations and a place should reflect India’s diversity.
It fits so well into the UAE’s own commitment to tolerance and pluralism and coming in the year of tolerance gives it that extra dimension.
What we will see on April 20 is the foundation ceremony and we expect a pretty broad cross section of the Indian community to be present, both from the UAE and abroad. The Hindu group that is building the temple will have their holiest leader attending – and we expect very senior representation from the leadership of the UAE.
When the designs were taken to the leadership, there were two clear options. There was a New Jersey model with a rectangular structure with the temple recessed inside so it was not too visible from the outside and another was the Neasden temple in London with the spires in its classical shape. And they said: look we said we wanted a temple so it should look like a temple. So this should be a classical style temple in all its glory.
It is beautifully located - 30 minutes outside of Abu Dhabi and barely 45 minutes to Dubai so it serves the needs of both communities.
This is going to be the big temple where I expect people to come from across the country at major festivals and occasions.
It is hugely important – it will take a couple of years to complete given the scale. It is going to be remarkable and will contribute something not just to the landscape in terms of visual architecture but also to the ethos. Here will be a real representation of UAE’s pluralism.
Desert Warrior
Starring: Anthony Mackie, Aiysha Hart, Ben Kingsley
Director: Rupert Wyatt
Rating: 3/5
