Gaza: Palestinian Envoy Hails AU’s Condemnation Of War

Ambassador of the State of Palestine to Nigeria, Abdallah Abu Shawesh, has commended the African Union (AU) for its position which condemned Israel for the war it’s waging in Gaza against Hamas, stressing that Africa has taken a position in line with humanity.

Shawesh told a press conference in Abuja yesterday that the Israeli aggression has brought untold death, destruction and massive trauma for the people of Palestine, who are completely desperate and moving with no hope even as he laments that the world still begs the Israeli Occupation for mercy.

On Saturday, the 37th African Union Summit was held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where the continental body condemned Israel’s “brutal war and the use of excessive force against 2.2 million defenceless civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

The statement from AU called on the Israeli authorities to “comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice and prevent the genocide in Gaza, as well as respond to international calls for a permanent ceasefire in the Strip,”

Moussa Faki, the chair of the African Union Commission, said Israel’s offensive was the “most flagrant” violation of international humanitarian law.

Ambassador Shawesh also condemned the US, which vetoed a Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire of the Israeli war against the Palestinian people. This, he said, marks the third time the US has vetoed such a resolution.

“The US is insisting on implementing jungle law that will spare no one,” he said, adding that the “Palestinian presidency condemned the US move, accusing it of giving additional green light to Israel to continue its genocidal war.”

He noted that this policy makes the United States a “partner in the crime of genocide, ethnic cleansing, and war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.”

The envoy pointed out that in the Occupied Gaza Strip about 17,000 children are being completely orphaned having no known relatives around them.  He added that the number of martyrs has risen to 29,410 and 69,465 wounded since the start of the aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 7th.

He said, “Thousands of victims are still under rubble and on the roads, as the occupation army prevents ambulances and civil defense crews from reaching them.

“As part of its ongoing war on the basic necessities of life, the Israeli occupation has completely destroyed 42,000 meters of water pipes, 40 wells, and 9 water tanks, and has also destroyed about one million square meters of roads, according to the Gaza Municipality.

“In the occupied West Bank More than 9,000 Palestinians detainees in the Israeli prisons have been subjected to unprecedented retaliatory and punitive measures since October 7th.”