Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said during a meeting today with the High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, in Ramallah that what is happening in the Gaza Strip is mass murder motivated by a vengeful spirit.
He slammed Israel’s mass killings in the Strip as a serious violation of international humanitarian law, stressing that: ‘Israel must stop its crimes.’
Shtayyeh highlighted the tragic situation in the Strip, where he said the occupation is bombing hospitals and where there is no food nor water and people are dying of hunger and thirst.
He stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, bringing in aid as displaced persons return to their homes in the north, and restoring water and electricity to the strip.
Regarding Israeli aggression against Palestinians in the West Bank, Shtayyeh noted that 205 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces since October 7.
About Israel’s illegal deduction of 600 million of the Palestinian Authorit
y (PA) tax revenues allocated for Gaza, the premier noted that Israel aims by such measure to punish the PA since it has been providing the Strip with water, medicine, electricity, and infrastructure and paying salaries to doctors and teachers there. ‘Our staff has been there for 17 years.’
‘We’re waiting for a political solution to be found in the framework of an international conference,’ he stated, stressing that the European Union (EU) is qualified to play the central and leading role in convening this conference based on international law and international legitimacy.
‘We want an end to the occupation, and we say that there is no fragmented political solution, and any solution must be comprehensive with Gaza as an integral part of the state of Palestine,’ affirmed the prime minister.
He emphasized that the Palestinian leadership is ready to engage in any political path that leads to the end of the occupation, and the establishment of a sovereign state on the entire Palestinian territory, urging for se
rious sanctions to be imposed on Israel if it does not comply.
For his turn, High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy of the European Union, Josep Borrell, said that there are thousands of civilian victims in the Gaza Strip, including children and women, and a shortage of food, electricity, fuel, and everything, demanding Israel ‘respect the international humanitarian law,’ which he said was delivered face-to-face to the Israeli authorities.
He pointed out that the EU, through the UN Security Council resolution that was adopted yesterday, demands an immediate ceasefire and a humanitarian truce to deliver aid, including fuel, to save the lives of civilians in Gaza.
He added that UNRWA has been assisted with $1 million only, despite the pressing need to increase aid to meet the needs of the two million people in the Strip, stressing that the international community must be able to provide such assistance.
Borrell further emphasized several other issues, the most important of which were re
jecting the forced displacement of Palestinians within or outside the Strip and separating it from the Palestinian cause.
He stressed the need for the Palestinian Authority to return to power in the Gaza Strip, stressing the EU’s role in the political process and building the Palestinian state based on the two-state solution.
He also affirmed that only a political solution will end the cycle of violence and create a better future.
The EU official reiterated his support for the PA as the sole representative of the Palestinian people on both the political and financial sides.
He added that the EU will continue its financial aid to the PA until a solution is found for its financial work, stressing the need to make every moment count and to work on resolving the conflict, mobilizing international support, and moving towards a political process based on a two-state solution.
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency – WAFA – English