The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdallah Shawesh has called out the Israeli Defence Force for deliberately targeting aid trucks and killing aid workers in the ongoing war in Gaza.
While addressing journalists in Abuja, Speaking at the Embassy of Palestine in Abuja Shawesh highlighted some important issues following the attacks by Israeli forces which killed about 5 Aid workers on Monday.
He noted that the Monday attack was done to scare those offering support to the displaced and hungry people of Palestine, adding that the aim of the attacks on the cars conveying aid was to send a warning signal.
Shawesh also accused Israel of scaring people from Gaza so that atrocities it’s commiting would remain hidden.
He said, “It was deliberately done. They want to send a clear message to others not to come to Gaza to provide aid and support for the Palestine people.
Full statement reads:
“What is happening in Gaza is the most heinous, vicious, disgraceful, genocidal act, that is taking place literally in the history of planet earth.
Femi Fani-Kayode
“The U.S. in recent days authorized the transfer of billions of dollars’ worth of bombs and fighter jets to Israel…. The package comes as Israel faces strong international criticism over its continued bombing campaign and ground offensive in Gaza. Washington gives $3.8 billion in annual military assistance to Israel.”
“The {UK} Foreign Office has received official legal advice that Israel has broken international humanitarian law, but the government has not announced it,”…“they haven’t stopped arms exports”…..”According to British law, such legal advice would require the British government to cease selling weapons to Israel immediately.”
According the WHO, “Virtually all households are already skipping meals every day and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat.”
The preliminary toll of the ongoing Israeli war against the Palestinian people over the past 181 days has resulted in 32,916martyrs and 75,494 injured. Two-thirds of the casualties are mainly women and children. Some estimates suggest that more than 10,000 Palestinians are still missing under the rubble and in the streets, with the occupation forces preventing ambulances and rescue teams from reaching them.
1.7 million of internally displaced people in Rafah which consist only 20% of the Gaza. 70,000 housing units destroyed, 83% of ground water wells are not operating, no access to clean water in northern governates, 625,000 students with no access to education. 1.1 million people projected to catastrophic level of food insecurity, 24% of primary health care facilities are functional.
Since the conflict erupted on 7 October 2023, out of the 563 school buildings in Gaza, 165 of the 212 that received a direct hit are in areas designated for evacuation by the Israeli military. At least 53 schools have been “totally destroyed.”
Israel still threatens and insists on invading Rafah, where an estimated 1.5 million Palestinian civilians, including 600,000 children, are sheltering from the ongoing devastating Israeli onslaught and bombardments.
As of April 3, 7635 Palestinian had been jailed in the Israeli detention camps and persons.
As of 30 March, the total number of UNRWA staff killed since the beginning of hostilities is 173.
The number of Palestinians who died due to malnutrition and dehydration has reached 34, with another 4 passing away last Sunday. Of the total, 31 are children and newborns.
On the anniversary of Land Day (April 30), the Colonization and Wall Resistance Commission stated that the Israeli occupation confiscated 27,000 dunums (6672 acres) in the Occupied West Bank in the last 6 months. The commission indicated that the number of checkpoints and iron gates is 840. Israel displaced 25 Bedouin communities and is establishing buffer zones around settlements in the occupied West Bank.
A report by Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, stated that after five months of military operations, Israel has destroyed Gaza. 70% of residential areas have been destroyed. 80% of the whole population has been forcibly displaced. Thousands of families have lost loved ones or have been wiped out. Many could not bury and mourn their relatives, forced instead to leave their bodies decomposing in homes, in the street or under the rubble. Thousands have been detained and systematically subjected to inhuman and degrading treatment.
According to the Euro Med Human Rights Monitor “Al-ShifaMedical Complex Witnesses One of the Largest Massacres in Palestinian History. The Israeli army carried out a massive, shockingly horrific military operation in Al-Shifa Medical Complex…..indiscriminately targeting and attacking Palestinians regardless of their civilian status, professional standing, gender, age, or health condition. Though the exact number of casualties from the atrocity is still unknown, preliminary reports suggest that over 1,500 Palestinians have been killed, injured, or are reported missing.”
Impending famine in Gaza: under this title wrote the executive director of UNFPA “Hunger and malnutrition, driven wholly by manmade causes and by a lack of humanitarian access, have spread through Gaza at frightening speed, causing catastrophic rates of disease, death and despair. For pregnant women and newborns every day has become a fight for survival. With each meal missed, the odds of a woman delivering an undernourished, undersized baby rise. New mothers are not getting enough food to nurse their newborns – who are often too weak to even cry. In Gaza, doctors report that newborns are dying because they weigh too little. The crisis looming over pregnant women and newborns can – and must – be halted. But the window of opportunity is closing fast, and unless we act immediately, thousands more will die.”
The International Court of Justice, on March 28, in view of the worsening conditions of life faced by Palestinians in Gaza, particularly the spread of famine and starvation, ordered Israel to comply with its obligations under the Genocide Convention. The ICJ court directed Israel to take all necessary and effective measures to ensure, without delay and in full cooperation with the United Nations, the unhindered provision of urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to Palestinians in Gaza. This assistance includes food, water, electricity, fuel, shelter, clothing, hygiene and sanitation requirements, as well as medical supplies and medical care. Israel is also instructed to increase the capacity and number of land crossing points and keep them open for as long as necessary. Ensure immediately that its military does not commit acts that violate the rights of Palestinians in Gaza as a protected group under the Genocide Convention. This includes preventing the delivery of urgently needed humanitarian assistance.
“A recent Euro-Med Monitor report titled “Escalation in Genocide and Absence of Accountability: Two Months after the International Court of Justice’s Ruling on Gaza” reveals that Israel did not abide by the previous order and continued to commit genocide against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. The report notes that Israel has, in fact, escalated its violations in the Strip since the ICJ’s January ruling… it is clear that Israel has not complied with the ICJ ruling.”
On the third Friday of Ramadan, the Israeli occupation forces hindered the entrance to the Occupied East Jerusalem and imposed stringent restrictions on entry to the Old City, preventing hundreds from reaching the city to attend Friday prayers at Al-Aqsa Mosque. The Israeli fanatic messianic regime is sparing no effort to ignite a religious war by imposing temporal division in preparation for spatial division.
According to the UN additional findings provide evidence for military use of schools by Israeli …. Forces since the beginning of the escalation. This includes several concerning reports, pictures and videos showing that schools are being used for military operations by IF, including use as detention, interrogation centers and military bases. Satellite pictures in the report also showed military tanks, their tracks and craters from shelling in school premises in February.
According the World Health Organization “Without a significant and immediate increase in deliveries of food, water and other essential supplies, conditions will continue deteriorating. Virtually all households are already skipping meals every day and adults are reducing their meals so that children can eat. The current situation will have long-term effects on the lives and health of thousands. Right now, children are dying from the combined effects of malnutrition and disease. Malnutrition makes people more vulnerable to getting severely ill, experiencing slow recovery, or dying when they are infected with a disease. The long-term effects of malnutrition, low consumption of nutrient-rich foods, repeated infections, and lack of hygiene and sanitation services slow children’s overall growth. This compromises the health and well-being of an entire future generation.”