காசாவின் தற்போதைய நிலவரம் - இலங்கையில் உள்ள பலஸ்தீன் தூதரகம், இன்று விடுத்துள்ள அறிக்கை (English)

Latest developments (20.05.2021)

Amid mounting calls from the international community on Israel to immediately stop it war crimes of collective punishment on the Palestinian occupied territories mainly on the besieged Gaza Strip, Israeli killing military machine for the 9th consecutive day continues to drop tons of bombs in almost 1810 raids targeting homes including high-rise buildings, hospitals, shelters, and the major infrastructure resulted in rising the number of casualties among civilians to climb to  228 including 38 children, 65 women and 16 elderly, in addition to 1650 wounded. Last night alone, the Israeli war-machine carried 194 attacks on east and south of the Gaza Strip.

The United Nations Security Council, in its fourth meeting on this Israeli crazy escalation, has again failed to find consensus on a joint statement calling for a ceasefire, with the United State telling the panel that such a statement would not help to calm the situation.   Israeli occupation prime minister Benjamine Netanyahu, said in his latest statements in a meeting with the foreign ambassadors that, “we are engaged in forceful deterrence but we don’t rule out anything, we are not standing with a stopwatch in our hand, rather we are making sure to meet the goals of this operation.”

These statement by the Israeli prime minister proves that he still not satisfied and he want to see more killings and destruction in the Gaza Strip under the pretext that his war machine is targeting resistance groups in the besieged enclave.   Meanwhile, the UN refugee agency UNRWA on Wednesday 19/5 called on Israel to allow “timely” passage of humanitarian aid and its staff into the besieged Gaza Strip, but unfortunately their appeal was rejected preventing the organization access to provide critical and essential humanitarian supplies to the stressed population, including particularly vulnerable persons such as pregnant 

women, children, persons with disabilities and serious medical conditions.

In a statement 19/5, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates condemned, in the strongest terms, the ongoing war crimes against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and strongly condemns the brutal repression committed by the occupation forces against citizens in Sheikh Jarah neighborhood east of Jerusalem and against the citizens who they participate in the peaceful marches rejecting aggression, occupation and settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The Ministry affirms that intransigence that dominates the political level in Israel and its rejection of all international efforts, appeals, and demands to stop the aggression, and his insistence on escalating his bloody aggression against our people comes as a direct result of the ideology and decisions of Netanyahu and the ruling right party in Israel aiming at solving his internal political crisis on the account of the Palestinians’ blood. The ministry holds the Israeli government and Netanyahu fully and directly responsible for those crimes which are with no doubts war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The ministry continues to mobilize its political and diplomatic efforts at all levels not only to stop the escalated ongoing aggression, but to ensure accountability and prosecution of Israeli war criminals. At the same time Palestinian leadership hold the UN Security Council fully responsible for its failure to assume its legal and moral responsibilities towards the Israeli aggression against our people, which will leave disastrous effects on the credibility of the United Nations and its institutions.

Meanwhile, Palestinian foreign minister Riyad al-Malki will be heading to New York to participate in the special and extraordinary meeting of the United Nations General Assembly, which will take place Thursday 20/5, to discuss the situation in Palestine and demand the urgent need to stop the ongoing Israeli attacks. It is expected that in this meeting a unified position condemning these attacks and rejecting the prejudice to the legal and current situation in Jerusalem, rejecting the displacement of citizens, rejecting the settlement policy, evictions and confiscation, and the occupation authorities of all the rights of the Palestinian people. 

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Wednesday pledged not to accept any substitute for East Jerusalem, Palestine’s “eternal capital”. In his speech before the Arab Parliament’s emergency session on the Israeli continued aggression across the Palestinians territories confirmed that” Jerusalem is our eternal capital, and will never accept any substitute for it. Without it, there would be neither peace, nor security, nor stability, nor agreement in our region and the world.” It is the common foundation around which the Palestinian people as well the Arab and Islamic nations meet. What Israel is committing now in the Palestinian territories is an act of “organized state terrorism” and war crimes that are punishable under international law, while pledging to pursue the perpetrators and held them accountable through international courts. 

In a repeated attempt to pressure Israel to stop their brutal attacks on the Palestinian people, President Abbas discussed during a phone call Wednesday 19/05 with United Nations Secretary – General Antonio Guterres the international efforts exerted to secure an immediate ceasefire, and stop the offensive which have caused catastrophe and devastation, calling to hold the Israeli occupation for the commission of these crimes. He further stressed the need to put a stop to the Israeli extremist settler attacks, which are backed by the Israeli forces against Palestinians in occupied Jerusalem and attempts to forcibly expel Palestinians from their homes in Jerusalem’s Sheikh Jarah neighborhood, as well as attacks against Muslim and Christian holy places in the city.

President Abbas emphasized that the Israeli escalation against the Palestinian people requires the start of a political solution based on UN resolutions under the auspices of the International Quartet, and to convene an international peace conference to end the Israeli occupation in order to establish the independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital.

Embassy of the State of Palestine 

110/10 Wijerama Mawatha, Colombo 7, Sri Lanka.

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