GCC States Urge Immediate, Permanent Ceasefire in Gaza

HE Dr. Hind bint Abdulrahman Al-Muftah

The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) States have condemned the ongoing Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, stressing their support for the brotherly Palestinian people in light of the current developments in the Gaza Strip and its surroundings.

They also called for an immediate and permanent ceasefire and Israeli military operations and an end to the humanitarian catastrophe that is occurring , and to ensure the access of all humanitarian and relief aid and basic needs to the residents of Gaza.

This came in a statement delivered by HE Dr. Hind bint Abdulrahman Al-Muftah, Permanent Representative of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Office and other international organizations in Geneva, on behalf of the of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), as the State of Qatar chairs the current session of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC) States, during the interactive dialogue on the report of the fact-finding committee on the occupied Palestinian territories, within the framework of the 56th Session of the Human Rights Council.

The GCC States expressed their rejection of any justifications or pretexts for the continuation of this aggression, calling on the international community to take the necessary measures to respond to the practices of the Israeli government and its policy of collective punishment against the defenseless residents of Gaza and all the Palestinian people.

They called on the UN Security Council to take a binding resolution under Chapter VII that guarantees the Israeli occupation forces compliance with the immediate ceasefire and genocide against the Palestinian people and their forced displacement, the entry of humanitarian aid and the return of life to normal in the Gaza Strip. They stressed their continued efforts at the political level to stop the Israeli attacks on the Strip Gaza, and providing humanitarian and relief aid to the brotherly Palestinian people.

The GCC States expressed their deep regret over the conclusions and facts contained in the report of the fact-finding committee on the occupied Palestinian territories, and held Israel fully legally responsible before the international community.

They said that the continued Israeli occupation and violations against the Palestinian people, including the ongoing attacks on innocent civilians, which resulted in more than 38,000 civilian martyrs in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children, represents a flagrant violation of international law and international humanitarian law.

The GCC States expressed their regret that the report equated the two unequal levels, explaining that it is not possible to equate the victim, which is the Palestinian people, with the perpetrator, Israel, the occupying power, which has been committing genocide crimes, violating the rights of Palestinians, and assaulting them for more than 75 years without regard to the legal system, and international judiciary.

(QNA)