Jordan’s King Abdullah II has ruled out the possibility of his country becoming an “alternative homeland” for the Palestinians, warning that their forced displacement by Israel would be a “war crime”, AFP reports.

Speaking during a gathering of world leaders at the United Nations General Assembly, King Abdullah said: “The idea of Jordan as an alternative homeland [for Palestinians] … will never happen.”

He said he was responding to proposals floated by “extremists who are taking our region to the brink of an all-out war”.

Jordan, which borders the West Bank and Israel and has a large Palestinian population, “will never accept the forced displacement of Palestinians, which is a war crime”, King Abdullah said.

The monarch urged the international community to join “a massive relief effort to deliver food, clean water, medicine and other vital supplies” to the Gaza Strip, where nearly a year of war has triggered “unprecedented suffering”.

“I urge all nations of conscience to unite with Jordan in the critical weeks ahead on this mission,” he said.

“Our world has failed politically, but our humanity must not fail the people of Gaza any longer. “