..Palestinian ambassador calls for AU’s intervention
By Henry Akubuiro
The Palestinian ambassador to Nigeria, Mohammed Abdullah Shawesh, has called for an immediate ceasefire between the Israeli Defence Force and Hamas in the ongoing war in Gaza.
The envoy, who stated the position of the Palestinian government at a news conference today (Sunday), facilitated (Sunday) at the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, facilitated by the NSCIA on Palestinian Issue, said the casualties in Gaza were unprecedented, as innocent Palestinian civilians had been killed by Israel.
“We are calling for a ceasefire right now. Every hour, everyday we are losing many of our women and children,” he said, enjoining the United Nations to establish an investigation commission to investigate what happened in October 6 and 7, and thereafter following the attack of northern Israel by Hamas.
He also called on the international community to urgently revisit the stalled humanitarian aid to trapped civilians in Gaza, which had caused unbearable starvation due to the lingering war.
“Starvation is a real issue in Gaza. People are starving. My personal family is there. Every two or three days, when I have a chance to communicate with them through WhatsApp, they complain that they haven’t eaten for three days. This is very shocking. We can’t imagine that,” he lamented.
“Even the water system in Gaza is completely destroyed. To drink water in Gaza, you have to boil what’s available to make it a bit drinkable,” he said, lamenting also that the health system was almost shut down in the embattled Palestinian city.
He called on Hamas and Israelis to release all the hostages on both sides. He said Israel had jailed more than 5000 Palestinians since October 7 under inhuman conditions.
He solicited the African Union to be part of the investigation commission to be set by the UN, for, “This is important. No one is safe until everyone is safe. Anybody, for example in Nigeria or South Africa, thinking you are safe you have nothing to do with it, you are wrong.”
He noted that everybody in the southern hemisphere had a shared history and future. Hence, “It’s our collective interest to make sure that international law should be implemented.”
He dispelled the notion that the crisis between Israel was not a Muslim vs Jewish thing, because the Palestinian population consisted of Muslims, Christians and Jewish.