On Thursday, August 7, the Israeli Cabinet approved a plan proposed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to occupy the entire Gaza Strip. The approval has been met with widespread condemnation from numerous countries, as well as international and regional institutions.
As per Netanyahu’s proposal, Israel will take control of the entire Strip, before handing it over to “an unspecified Arab governing force”, while not placing Israel in control of the Strip as a civil government. The Palestinian Authority will not play a role in “post-Hamas” Gaza either.
The United Nations
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency session on Sunday, August 10, during which UN Assistant Secretary-General for Europe, Central Asia and Americas, Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, Miroslav Jenča, stated that Israel’s decision to occupy Gaza may “ignite another horrific chapter” in the Arab-Israeli conflict.
“If these plans are implemented, they will likely trigger another calamity in Gaza, reverberating across the region and causing further forced displacement, killings, and destruction – compounding the unbearable suffering of the population,” Jenča said.
The senior UN official emphasized that “the only way to stop the immense human suffering in Gaza is through a full, immediate and permanent ceasefire.”
He also called for an “immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli captives”, and “unimpeded and large-scale delivery of humanitarian aid” to the besieged strip, stressing that the only sustainable solution to the conflict will be reached through ending the unlawful occupation, and establishing a viable two-state solution.
“Gaza is, and must remain, an integral part of a Palestinian State,” Jenča reaffirmed.
Jenča’s statements came two days after UN Secretary-General António Guterres described the approval of the plan as a “dangerous escalation”, which “risks deepening the already catastrophic consequences” not only for millions of Palestinians, but also for the remaining Israeli captives held in Gaza.
OIC
For its part, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) issued a statement on Friday, August 8, condemning “in the strongest terms the decision of the Israeli occupying authorities to reoccupy the entire Gaza Strip and displace nearly one million Palestinians.”
The OIC warned that the decision will result in displacing over 900,000 Palestinian people from Gaza City to the Al-Mawasi area in the city of Khan Yunis in the southern Gaza Strip.
The Arab League
Meanwhile, the Arab League branded the plan during an emergency session held in Cairo, on Sunday, as a “flagrant act of war against all Arab nations” that “will escalate genocide against Palestinians and destabilize the entire Middle East”.
The Arab League considered the move “a direct assault on the sovereignty and security of every Arab state”, and demanded “urgent international pressure to halt Israel’s genocidal war and starvation tactics” inflicted on the besieged population in Gaza.
GCC
The Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), Jasem Albudaiwi deplored the decision as a “blatant challenge to the will of the international community and a flagrant violation of all UN resolutions and international laws”.
Albudaiwi pointed out that Israel’s occupation of Gaza “undermines all efforts to achieve a just and comprehensive peace”.
European countries
The foreign ministers of eight European countries including Iceland, Ireland, Luxembourg, Malta, Norway, Portugal, Slovenia, and Spain issued a joint statement on Sunday, strongly condemning the decision, which they said “will only deepen the humanitarian crisis and further endanger the lives” of the remaining Israeli captives in Gaza.
The statement further noted that Netanyahu’s plan “will lead to an unacceptable high toll of deaths and the forced displacement of nearly 1 million Palestinian civilians.”
“We firmly reject any demographic or territorial changes in the Occupied Palestinian Territory,” the statement reads.
The European foreign ministers cautioned that the actions that Israel will take in that regard “constitute a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.”
Officials representing other European countries expressed their condemnation separately. In an interview with the Italian newspaper La Stampa that was published on Monday, August 11, Italian Defense Minister Guido Crosetto accused Netanyahu’s government of “pursuing a territorial conquest and of having lost reason and humanity.”
Referring to Israel’s ongoing genocidal aggression on Gaza, Crosetto said that it “is not a military operation with collateral damage, but the outright denial of the law and of the founding values of our civilization.”
Moreover, UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer warned Israel that its intended action will not help in ending “the conflict” or “secure the release” of Israeli captives, but will rather “bring more bloodshed”.
On Tuesday, August 12, the French Foreign Ministry issued a statement, warning of a possible “disaster” and “escalation” for both Israeli captives and the civilian population of Gaza.
“The future of the Gaza Strip must be part of a future Palestinian state led by the Palestinian Authority. France remains committed to implementing the two-state solution, the only one that can guarantee lasting peace and security for Israelis and Palestinians. This war must end now with a permanent ceasefire,” the ministry said.
Netanyahu claims that occupying Gaza is the “only choice to complete the defeat of Hamas”
The growing international condemnation of Netanyahu’s lethal and destructive plans against the Palestinian people, particularly the population of Gaza, does not seem to have deterred him from going ahead with the plan to occupy the war-torn enclave.
The Israeli premier alleged during a press conference for foreign media on Sunday that Israel does not seek to stay in Gaza after occupying it, but to replace Hamas through an expanded military operation.
Netanyahu insisted that occupying Gaza is “the best way to bring the war to a speedy conclusion”, claiming that his “goal is not to occupy Gaza but to free Gaza”.
The post Netanyahu ignores international condemnation and pushes forward with plan to occupy Gaza appeared first on Peoples Dispatch.
From Peoples Dispatch via this RSS feed