AMMAN: Jordan’s Queen Rania accused Western leaders of a “glaring double standard” for not condemning the Zionist entity’s killing of Palestinian civilians in its bombardment of Gaza, in an interview aired Wednesday. The royal, born to Palestinian parents in Kuwait, blasted Western nations for opposing a blanket ceasefire and said their silence gave the impression they were “complicit” in the Zionist entity’s attacks on the Gaza Strip.

“The people all around the Middle East, including in Jordan, we are just shocked and disappointed by the world’s reaction to this catastrophe that is unfolding. In the last couple of weeks, we have seen a glaring double standard in the world,” she told CNN’s Christiane Amanpour. “When October 7 happened, the world immediately and unequivocally stood by (the Zionist entity) and its right to defend itself and condemned the attack,” she said of the day when Hamas fighters began a rampage that killed more than 1,400 people and abducted more than 220 others, Zionist officials say.

“But what we’re seeing in the last couple of weeks, we’re seeing silence in the world.” The Zionist entity has responded with relentless air strikes on the tiny Palestinian territory which Gaza’s Hamas-run health ministry says have killed 6,546 people, mostly civilians and many of them children. It has also imposed a total siege on Gaza’s 2.4 million residents who are facing a “catastrophic” humanitarian crisis, the United Nations says.

“Are we being told that it is wrong to kill a family, an entire family, at gunpoint, but it’s OK to shell them to death?” Queen Rania asked. Many Western governments have repeatedly and publicly voiced their support for the Zionist entity while also urging it to respect international law. Queen Rania said of the West’s refusal to back a ceasefire that “the silence is deafening and, to many in our region, it makes the Western world complicit through their support and through the cover that they give (the Zionist entity)”.

UN chief Antonio Guterres on Tuesday spoke of “epic suffering” in Gaza, and said there had been “clear violations of international law”.

Guterres sparked a furious reaction from Zionist diplomats when he said that the Hamas attack “did not happen in a vacuum”. That sentiment was shared by Queen Rania, who told CNN that it was wrong to say the conflict started on Oct 7. “This is a 75-year-old story; a story of overwhelming death and displacement to the Palestinian people. It is a story of an occupation under an apartheid regime,” she said. When pressed on that claim, Rania cited international human rights organizations which have previously accused the Zionist entity of apartheid. The foreign ministers of Turkey and Qatar also accused the international

community of “double standards” Wednesday in its reaction to the escalating conflict between the Zionist entity and Hamas in Gaza. Qatar’s top diplomat Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al-Thani said the two governments — both Western allies — “reaffirm our complete rejection of responding to the crisis with double standards when it comes to human life”.

Turkish Foreign Minister Hakan Fidan said: “The failure of some American and north European countries to condemn and prevent the destruction and disaster in Gaza constitutes a very serious double standard and plays a destabilizing role. The operation in Gaza should be stopped as soon as possible. Humanitarian corridors should be opened.”

Both Turkey and Qatar have been strong supporters of the Palestinian cause and have open channels of communication with Hamas, the Islamist rulers of Gaza. The wealthy Gulf emirate, which hosts the largest US military base in the Middle East, also hosts Hamas’ political office and is the main residence of the Islamists’ self-exiled leader Ismail Haniya.

It has used its channels with Hamas, established with US blessing, to play a lead role in the release of four of the more than 200 hostages held by the militant group in Gaza. The Qatari minister said the only way to restore peace in and around Gaza was to keep channels of communication open. He said Doha and Ankara would continue to coordinate with each other and regional partners to de-escalate the conflict. He condemned criticism of Qatar’s position, saying that such comments “undermine existing efforts, risk lives and cannot be understood except in the context of political blackmail”.

Meanwhile, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan said Wednesday he was cancelling plans to visit the Zionist entity because of its “inhumane” war against Hamas militants in Gaza. The Turkish leader added that he did not view Hamas as a terrorist organization but as “liberators”, fighting for their land, drawing a swift and angry condemnation from the Zionist government.

Erdogan had taken a more measured tone in the first day of war, condemning all attacks against civilians and urging the Zionist entity to be measured in its response to the deadly Oct 7 attacks by Hamas. But he became much more vocal after the deadly strike on Ahli Arab hospital in Gaza last week, leading to large and angry protests across the Muslim world.

He doubled down on Wednesday, telling ruling party lawmakers in parliament that Turkey “never approved the atrocities being committed by (the Zionist entity)”. “We had a project to go to (the Zionist entity), but it was cancelled, we will not go,” he in televised remarks. “Of course, we had good intentions, but (Netanyahu) abused them,” Erdogan said. “If he had continued with good intentions, our relations might have been different, but now, unfortunately, this will not happen either.”

Erdogan is expected to appear at a massive rally in Istanbul on Saturday defending Palestinian rights. He told his Islamic-rooted party on Wednesday that Turkey had “no problem with the (the Zionist entity)”, but could not accept its “disgusting and brutal attacks” on Gaza. “Hamas is not a terror organization, but a group of liberators and mujahideen who protect their lands,” Erdogan said, drawing a round of applause from his party faithful. – Agencies