Israelis outraged by restaurant called 'October 7' in Jordan

Israelis have been left outraged after images and videos of a restaurant in Jordan named 'October 7' circulated online.

In a video posted online, a voice presents a "new" shawarma restaurant in the western Jordanian city of Karak that is purportedly named after the date of the attack conducted last year by the Palestinian group Hamas in southern Israel.

Videos of the restaurant widely shared online since Wednesday have been described as "disgusting" and "sick" by Israelis and pro-Israeli social media users.

Some claimed the name reflects how Jordanians feel about the war on Gaza, where around 26,000 Palestinians have been killed since 7 October.

Israel and Jordan signed a peace treaty in 1994, but most Jordanians want to break these ties.

Since the start of Israel’s war on Gaza, relations between the two countries have seriously deteriorated, worsened by Israel's increasingly brutal treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem and threats to expel them to Jordan.

Hamas’ unprecedented assault on 7 October killed about 1,140 people, according to Israeli figures. The group says their attack came in response to Israel’s 16-year blockade of Gaza and decades of aggression against the Palestinian people.

The attack – dubbed 'Al-Aqsa Flood' by Hamas – unleashed what would become Israel’s biggest-ever offensive on the Palestinian enclave.

The Jordanian news site Khaberni is reporting that a restaurant called “October 7” has opened in Karak, southern Jordan. pic.twitter.com/KWIbpisVVi

— Adam Lucente (@Adam_Lucente) January 25, 2024

Israel claims that the operation aims to annihilate Hamas, but the air and ground assault has left much of Gaza in rubble. Many Israeli generals are also questioning whether Israel can defeat Hamas in Gaza.

Israel’s actions in Gaza could amount to genocide, and the country has been legally challenged by South Africa, with the backing of other countries, at the International Court of Justice.