Given Israel’s prolonged military occupation of Palestinian Territories since the 1967 war, and its grossly unfair and unjust treatment of the 5 million Palestinian people desirous of national freedom, human dignity and basic rights; the deception, duplicity and betrayal that marked its state conduct even after the signing the Oslo Peace Agreements with the Palestinian national movement in the early 1990s, especially its high crime of obstructing the emergence of a viable and independent Palestinian State in the illegally-occupied and confiscated territories; the October 7 declaration of 'Operation Al Aqsa Storm' by the Hamas military wing marks a transformational moment in the wider region.
Seeking to avenge its
sense of national humiliation over the killing of over 300 soldiers and around
800 civilians as well as hostages taken away into Gaza, Israel lost a sense of
proportion in its war against Hamas, unleashing rampant bombing of Palestinian
cities and villages- including schools, hospitals and UN refugee camps;
displacing hundreds of thousands of civilians from their habitats; killing
thousands of innocent children, women and the aged. The already long-besieged
enclave of Gaza- the largest ‘open-prison’ in the world with Israel controlling
entry and exit points of the Strip- is now facing a humanitarian
disaster with the blockade of even essential food, clean water, medicine and
fuel.
The attitude of the
United States, as well as the European states betray their indulgence of
Israeli military excesses against the civilian population in the occupied
territories. As against the fundamental rules of international law and the
demands of international humanitarian law, Israel somehow seems to have an
exception crafted into the rules of conduct when it comes to equal application.
Such glaring injustice invites resistance, one way or the other. Against
the backdrop of the ongoing bombing of the Palestinian territories, and
collective punishment of the people by Israel, leaders of Arab States assembled
in Egypt to share a message of peace and prudence to the international
community; outlining the immediate steps required to address the conflict, as
well as the contours of a shared future for Jews, Christians and Muslims in the
region. Reproduced Below is the full text of Jordan’s King
Abdullah II remarks at Cairo Summit for Peace on 21 October 2023.