Ambassador Ahmed Rashid Khattabi, Assistant Secretary-General and Head of the Media and Communication Sector at the League of Arab States.
Khattabi added that the Arab League perceives the support of 17 out of 27 EU member states of the Netherlands' proposal as carrying profound political and legal weight, given that the proposal is founded on "respect for human rights and democratic principles" and comes amidst the catastrophic situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.
In a statement on Wednesday, Khattabi stressed that similar firm positions, including recognising the State of Palestine, threatening Israel with sanctions, imposing an arms embargo, freezing free trade negotiations, and banning the import of settler products, are advanced steps towards imposing further international pressure to end the war on Gaza. They are also an encouraging prelude to a sound and correct understanding of this bitter historical conflict through the vision of a two-state solution.
Furthermore, Khattabi noted that Israel's continued shameful practices have forced several governments, parliaments, and political, civil, intellectual, media, and artistic elites in the Western world to express their concern and dismay at the catastrophic humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and the occupied Palestinian territories.
He added, "After these entities were subjected for a long time to the influence of the narratives promoted by Israeli propaganda outlets regarding what happened on 7 October 2023, they remained, despite their various sources, captive to a false discourse centred on 'Israel's right to self-defense,' until the horrific hostile military actions against civilians, especially women and children, revealed the absurdity of this 'right,' which was intended to be false and without the slightest regard for the provisions of international humanitarian law."
In this context, Khattabi pointed out that the recent Madrid Conference, in which the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, Ahmed Aboul Gheit, actively participated, coincides with this significant shift towards exploring a political horizon for the conflict based on the two-state solution as a realistic, sustainable approach consistent with international legitimacy resolutions.
"My speech emphasised that the stifling humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip, due to the alarming rise in the number of victims, wounded, and missing persons, the manifestations of destruction, starvation, and siege, the repeated incursions into the West Bank, and the ridiculous provocative practices in Jerusalem, have revealed to the world the reality of this horrific war over several harsh months. This war has reached its peak with its grave violations and moral decline in the treatment of innocent civilians, to the point of unjust encroachment on their dignity and humanity," Khattabi added.
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