Jordan King Abdullah II speaks during a plenary session at the COP28 U.N. Climate Summit, Friday, Dec. 1, 2023, in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. AP
King Abdullah II told the UN's COP28 climate talks in Dubai that "we cannot talk about climate change in isolation from the humanitarian tragedies unfolding around us".
"In Gaza, over 1.7 million Palestinians have been displaced from their homes. Tens of thousands have been injured or killed in a region already on the front lines of climate change," he told a gathering of world leaders.
"The massive destruction of war makes the environmental threats of water scarcity and food insecurity even more severe.
"In Gaza, our people are living with little clean water and the bare minimum of food supplies, as climate threats magnify the devastation of war."
The Gaza war has been a major talking point at COP28, where delegations from around the world will try to hammer out a fresh agreement to tackle the climate crisis.
Iran's delegation walked out of the COP28 talks on Friday in protest at Israel's presence, which delegation chief Ali Akbar Mehrabian said was "contrary to the goals and guidelines of the conference", according to the official IRNA news agency.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is conducting talks on captive releases on the sidelines of the conference, while his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas canceled a planned visit.
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