Palestine ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah Shawesh has commented on the ongoing conflict between Israel and Palestine. While urging Israel to ceasefire, he noted that the tragic effect on the people will continue to live with them.
Shawesh disclosed this on Tuesday while briefing newsmen in Abuja.
The statement reads: “I would like to start by congratulating all the African people for convening the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa and its successful conclusion. In its final outcome document, the AU adopted a declaration on the situation in Palestine and the Middle East.
“Clock are ticking, death is everywhere, and maiming is a tragic fact that will stay with the people for the last moment of their lives. Trauma is dominant in the entire society, and the people are completely desperate and moving with no hope. All of this, and the world still begs the Israeli Occupation for mercy.
“The US vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire of Israeli war against the Palestinian people. This marks the third time the US has vetoed such a resolution. The US is insisting on implementing jungle law that will spare no one.
“The Palestinian presidency condemned the US move, accusing it of giving additional green light to Israel to continue its genocidal war.
“It stressed that this policy makes the United States a partner in the crime of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
“In the Occupied Gaza Strip
About 17,000 children being completely orphaned having no known relatives around them.
The number of martyrs has risen to 29,410 and 69,465 wounded since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.
“Thousands of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, as the occupation army prevents ambulances and civil defense crews from reaching them.
“As part of its ongoing war on the basic necessities of life, the Israeli occupation has completely destroyed 42,000 meters of water pipes, 40 wells, and 9 water tanks, and has also destroyed about one million square meters of roads, according to the Gaza Municipality.
“In the occupied West Bank
More than 9000 Palestinians detainees in the Israeli prisons have been subjected to unprecedented retaliatory and punitive measures since October 7th.
“Under the title “Is it time for a bold international intervention to uncover the secret detention centers that were established after October 7th?” Qaddora Fares, the head of the Prisoners and Ex-Prisoners Affairs Authority, sent an appeal to the international community, urging it to break its silence and take immediate action to uncover the secret prisons and detention centers.
“In the Occupied West Bank, 7170 Palestinian detainees have been held since October 7 up to today, including 215 women, 430 children, 52 journalists, and 3574 administrative detainees. There are no accurate numbers for the detainees in Gaza, and there is little information about them.
“We call on the ICRC to uphold its mandated duties in accordance with international law and visit the Israeli prisons and detention centers to verify the inhumane and miserable situation that the prisoners are subjected to.
“The IOF has installed iron gates on all the villages south of Nablus. As a result, most of the villages, population centers, and all outlets in the West Bank are effectively.
In OWB today, there are more than 700 military checkpoints, gates, and dirt barriers that, among many other issues, have led to a decline in economic activities and revenues.
“To add insult to injury, Israel is still withholding the Palestinian clearance fund for the fourth month in a row, which has left the Palestinian Government short of paying salaries and other necessary payments to secure the normal daily life of the Palestinian people.
“On its way to temporal division in preparation for spatial division, the Israeli cabinet started discussing endorsing restrictions on Palestinian access to the Al Aqsa mosque during the holy month of Ramadan. This is another attempt to ignite a religious war that, if it erupts, will have global consequences.
“In his speech before the AU summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday, February 17, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said, and I quote, “let your voice be loud to stop the Israeli aggression and colonies. the African Union (AU) was right when it prevented Israel from being an observer state in the Union, and prevented the infiltration of its representatives into this forum last year… Israel is an apartheid state and a state of racial discrimination in law and practice….…. Israel is killing out of revenge after 134 days of its brutal aggression, and wants to continue for as long as possible to serve Netanyahu’s position as prime minister, and this must not be allowed…. Today, the world is required to recognize the State of Palestine, a state on the borders of June 4, 196”
“Dr. Shtayyeh “called for placing the entire colonies project under international sanctions, by boycotting settlement products and boycotting settlement institutions and settlers, pointing out the importance of completing what some countries did by placing a number of settlers on terrorist lists.”
“UNRWA still under the Occupation attack
UNRWA was under Israeli attack a long time ago, and they turned every stone to dismantle it using many allegations and fabricated news. Following the Israeli allegation that 12 out of 13,000 UNRWA staff members were part of the attack on October 7, 20 donor countries, including the top three, suspended their funding to UNRWA, making the already miserable situation even more tragic. Israel has yet to provide conclusive evidence to substantiate the claim. The suspended amount is half of UNRWA’s operating budget.
“The funding freeze is further threatening UNRWA’s ability to respond to needs within Gaza. Also at risk are the agency’s operations in East Jerusalem, the West Bank, Jordan, Syria, and Lebanon, where it provides education, healthcare, humanitarian support, and other services to millions of Palestinian refugees ”{The New Humanitarian newsroom}
“On his statement to the media, Philippe Lazzarini, UNRWA commissioner-general, stated, and I quote “once the war is over, we need a board of inquiry. We need to look at all the situations where UN premises have been blatantly disrespected. Since the beginning of the war, more than 150 of our installations have been hit. We know that some installations have been completely destroyed. Hundreds of people have been killed, thousands have been injured, and all this needs to be investigated independently”
Israel has denied a visa for UN Special Rapporteur to the OPT, Francesca Albanese.
“This is not new, as Israel has denied entry to ALL Special Rapporteurs in the past. This is an essential part of Israeli policy that has been in place for a long time.
We should stop talking about the two-state solution as if it were a new invention. The two-state solution is at the core of the 181 resolution that was adopted by the UNGA on 29 November 1947, known as the Partition Plan of Palestine. This resolution proposed dividing the historical land of Palestine into two states, one of which already exists and is called Israel, while the other, called Palestine, has yet to be established. Legally speaking, all the countries that recognize Israel based on resolution 181 acknowledge that the state of Israel was created in accordance with this resolution. Recognize the partition plan borders as well.
“The Biden administration is preparing to send bombs and other weapons to Israel that would add to its military arsenal, …according to current and former U.S. officials. The proposed arms delivery includes roughly a thousand each of bombs, Joint Direct Attack Munitions and bomb fuses, the officials said. The arms are estimated to be worth tens of millions of dollars. If this is not complicity then what is the complicity?