UAE, Jordan worried of Yemen partaking in ongoing war: Israeli media
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The United Arab Emirates and Jordan are the countries most concerned about an escalation in regional hostilities.
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A screengrab from a video posted by the Yemeni Military Media depicting the launch of ballistic missiles towards occupied Palestine in support of Gaza, posted on November 1, 2023 (Yemeni Military Media)
There are concerns in the United Arab Emirates and Jordan due to Sanaa's involvement in the Gaza war through its launching of missiles toward "Israel" and threats against the Israeli occupation, Israeli media reported Wednesday.
"Sanaa is currently focusing on firing at Israel, but many countries in the region fear being drawn into the conflict," Israeli Kan channel Arab Affairs expert Roi Kais said.
Kais identified the most concerned countries as the United Arab Emirates, noting that a member of the UAE parliament, who preferred to remain anonymous, expressed concerns that Israel's response to Sanaa's actions "could escalate the scale of the war."
The second-most concerned country according to Kais is Jordan, which recalled its ambassador from "Israel" in protest against the ongoing war.
It was noted that individuals in Amman have repeatedly warned about the potential spread of the conflict to various areas in the region, emphasizing that Jordan's security is a top priority.
Jordanian Armed Forces military media director Brigadier General Mustafa Al-Hayari said Sunday that Jordan had requested Patriot air defense missiles from the United States to enhance its security.
In an interview with a state-owned TV channel, Al-Hayari mentioned the need for a system to counter unmanned aerial threats, which he described as a growing concern for the country due to their use in drug smuggling.
"We have asked the American side to bolster our air defense system with Patriot missiles," he said. "This is an expensive system that cannot be effectively deployed using local resources alone, so we require a strategic partner."
Al-Hayari highlighted what he claimed to be continuous threats, including ballistic missiles surrounding Jordan from the north, east, and west, emphasizing that the Patriot was the most effective weapon against such threats.
"The Patriot is a defensive weapon used to protect Jordanian territory. If a threat to the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan arises, we will defend it using this weapon and means," he explained
He pointed out the strong relationships with various Jordanian allies, stating that they would not hesitate to leverage these relationships when needed.
Al-Hayari emphasized that it was a strategic decision for "the Hashemite Kingdom [...] to ally with a great power, the United States, in a 72-year-old alliance amid a turbulent region surrounding Jordan."
In light of the regional concerns about an escalation in the war, the Israeli occupation naval force deployed ships equipped with missiles in the Red Sea on Tuesday, as part of what the entity claims is a "situation assessment and efforts to bolster defense," Israeli media reported on Wednesday.
Israeli forces spokesperson commenting on the measure claimed that the military is "in a very high state of readiness."
The Wall Street Journal had previously published footage of Israeli naval vessels in the Red Sea after Yemen's Sanaa revealed that it carried out missile and drone launches targeting the depth of the occupation entity on Tuesday.
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