Israel-Hamas war: Arab countries condemn, reject acts of violence, terrorism against civilians

MANAMA (Bahrain) August 27 (ANI): Foreign Ministers of Arab countries have condemned and rejected all acts of violence and terrorism against civilians and the targeting of civilian infrastructure and facilities, in addition to all violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law by any party.

This comes in light of the Israel-Hamas war.

A joint statement was on Thursday issued by the foreign ministers of Jordan, the United Arab Emirates (UAE), the Kingdom of Bahrain, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the State of Kuwait, the Arab Republic of Egypt, and the Kingdom of Morocco.

The statement issued following the “Cairo Peace Summit” held in Cairo on October 21, condemned individual or collective forced displacement, as well as the policy of collective punishment.

It emphasized that the absence of a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has led to repeated acts of violence and suffering for the Palestinian and Israeli people and the people of the region in general, stressing the importance of the international community, especially the Security Council, to assume its responsibilities in order to achieve peace in the Middle East.

The ministers called for genuine collective efforts to resolve the conflict through the implementation of the two-state solution on the basis of relevant United Nations resolutions, ensuring the establishment of an independent, sovereign Palestinian state with contiguous territory, viable for life on the pre-June 4, 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, as per a release issued by Bahrain’s foreign ministry.

The Foreign ministers of Arab countries confirmed the rejection of any attempts to solve the Palestinian issue at the expense of the Palestinian people or the people of the region, or through displacing the Palestinian people by any means, as it is a grave violation of international humanitarian law and a war crime.

They affirmed the need for full adherence to the Geneva Conventions of 1949, especially when it comes to the responsibilities of the occupation, asserting the importance of the immediate release of civilian hostages and detainees, and ensuring that they are provided with safe, dignified and humane treatment consistent with international law, in addition to emphasising the role of the International Committee of the Red Cross in this regard, as per the official release.

The ministers in their joint statement emphasised that the right to self-defence guaranteed by the United Nations Charter does not justify flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law, or the deliberate neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including the right to self-determination, and the end of the decades-long occupation.

They called upon the Security Council to compel the parties to an immediate and sustainable ceasefire and emphasized that failure to recognise the flagrant violations of international humanitarian law serves as permission for the continuation of these practices and complicity in committing them.
The ministers demanded more efforts to ensure and facilitate fast, safe and sustainable access to humanitarian aid to Gaza without obstacles in accordance with relevant humanitarian principles, and to mobilize additional resources in cooperation with the United Nations and its affiliated organizations and agencies, especially UNRWA.

They expressed concern about the possibility of the current confrontations and conflict expanding to other regions in the Middle East, calling on all parties to exercise utmost restraint, and stressing that the expansion of this conflict will have serious consequences for the people of the region and for international peace and security.

Concern was also expressed about the escalation of violence in the West Bank, calling on the international community to support and strengthen the Palestinian National Authority, and to provide financial support to the Palestinian people through Palestinian institutions, as per the official release.
Recently, Palestine’s permanent observer to the United Nations Riyad Mansour said that while the world body was holding a meeting, fellow Palestinians in Gaza were living in fear of bombs.

Voicing concern over the rising civilian death toll in Gaza, Mansour, in his address at the ongoing special session of the United Nations General Assembly, called on the international community to save lives.

Mansour said, “We are meeting here while Palestinians in Gaza are under the bombs. Remember, that you are speaking while families are being killed, while hospitals are coming to a halt, while neighbourhoods are being destroyed, while people are fleeing from one place to another with nowhere safe to go.”

“I urge you to choose your words carefully and to act accordingly for all those mobilised against an even greater manmade humanitarian catastrophe or of a regional spillover and these are worthy goals we say stop the bombs or both will happen. Stop the bombs and save lives as the president of the general assembly has indicated all lives, lives of children, of civilians, of 2.3 million civilians in the Gaza Strip,” he added. (ANI)