RAMALLAH: Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh Monday stressed the need for Israel to adhere to everything stated in the decision of the International Court of Justice.
At the beginning of the weekly Cabinet session held in the city of Ramallah, the Prime Minister described the court’s decision as ‘important,’ legally, politically, and humanitarianly, as bringing in aid requires a ceasefire, stopping the aggression, and enabling people to return to their homes.
He also welcomed the decision of the Secretary-General of the United Nations to refer the court’s decision to the Security Council, and demand an end to the aggression against Palestinian people.
Shtayyed stressed that what is important in the court’s decision is that Israel today is accused of committing genocide after many international institutions described it a year ago as a racist state that practices ‘apartheid’ against the Palestinian people, and that Israel must stop it from annexing lands in the Gaza Strip under the pretext of creating a buffe
r zone, in order to prevent the return of colonialism and colonizers to the Gaza Strip.
He pointed out that the aggression against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip has entered its 115th day, under bad weather conditions, tents flooded with rainwater, and people sleeping on the mud, some of whom are bleeding and starving, which has exacerbated the suffering of children, women and the elderly.
The PM stressed that the attack on the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) is a premeditated political attack by Israel. For a long time, it has been fighting the Relief and Works Agency and the camps everywhere, and “we have seen that in Gaza, Jenin, Tulkarm, Balata, Aqabat Jabr, Al-Fawwar, and Dheisheh.”
He expressed his hope that the countries that temporarily suspended their aid would withdraw from this measure, as it poses a threat to UNRWA and hinders the implementation of the court’s decision, especially since it provides aid to about 1.7 million people, and endangers the li
ves of those in need of assistance in Gaza.
Regarding the ongoing occupation violations in the West Bank, Shtayyed said that Israel is preparing to establish a number of new colonies and strengthen colonialism, to undermine any international effort to end the occupation, adding that Israeli forces steal sheep and livestock, and pay their owners thousands of dollars to release them, under the pretext that they graze in Area C, noting that this is a reptitive measure in the Jordan Valley, Masafer Yatta, and elsewhere.
Regarding the clearance fund, the Prime Minister indicated that the Norwegian option is still open, and that there are Israeli-Norwegian deliberations and follow-up measures by the Minister of Finance, but Israel’s conditions are at a standstill, which is the refusal to transfer this money to the Palestinians, and in any case “we will discuss the issue today and what we can pay from it to the employees as salaries.”
He explained that the Cabinet will discuss at its session allocating a sum of m
oney to supplement the student fund in order enable students to register in universities for this semester.
Shtayyeh explained that the President stressed the importance of holding general elections as soon as conditions exist for that, including Jerusalem, in a way that allows all political, civil, and civil society segments to participate in them.
In an international matter, Shtayyeh affirmed Cyprus’ rejection of Israel’s attempts to displace Palestinians from the Gaza Strip, and that its assistance is for relief and to strengthen the steadfastness of Palestinian people there.’
In this regard, he said, “We have received a letter from the Cypriot President, through the Foreign Minister, confirming that Cyprus rejects attempts at displacement from the Gaza Strip, and that its efforts will focus on relief and delivering aid, and we welcome and thank him for that.”
Source: Palestine news and Information Agency