During a meeting with Singaporean counterpart Vivian Balakrishnan in Ramallah, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki accused Israeli authorities of aiming to render the Gaza Strip uninhabitable.
The discussion between the two sides, as reported by the WAFA news agency, revolved around "efforts to halt the genocidal war being waged against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip."
Al-Maliki emphasized, "Israel persists in committing violations and war crimes against Palestinians in the occupied territories, including the ongoing 164-day-long bloodshed in the Gaza Strip."
He went on to state, "Israel's disregard for international resolutions reaffirms its ongoing pursuit of undeclared objectives to displace our people from their land and transform the Gaza Strip into an uninhabitable area." The Palestinian minister also called for "immediate action to deliver humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip."
Tensions in the Middle East escalated sharply following the infiltration of Hamas fighters from the Gaza Strip into Israeli territory on October 7, 2023. In response, Israel launched retaliatory strikes against the Palestinian enclave as well as parts of Lebanon and Syria.
On December 1, 2023, the Israeli military accused Hamas of violating the ceasefire that had been in place since November 24 of the same year and announced the resumption of fighting in the Gaza Strip. Palestinian authorities held the United States responsible for the renewed Israeli aggression. Since the escalation of the conflict began, 31,000 Palestinians have been killed.
GSV "Russia - Islamic World"
Photo: Marius Arnesen/Creative Commons 3.0
Based on materials from TASS