Egypt’s President Abdel Fattah El Sisi Saturday said that Egypt has been condemning – from the early beginning of the Palestinian crisis – targeting, killing and terrorizing innocent civilians as well as other acts that violate international law and international humanitarian law.
The president asserted the necessity of halting all practices that target the forced displacement of Palestinians outside their land.
Speaking at the inaugural session of the Extraordinary Joint Arab-Islamic Summit, the president said that time passes heavily on Gaza’s civilians who are subjected to killing.
The president highlighted that the collective punishment policy is unacceptable and not justifiable under the pretext of self-defense.
He called for conducting an international investigation into all violations committed against international law and affirmed that the international community bears a direct responsibility to work seriously and decisively towards reaching an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the strip, with no restrictions or conditions.
Following is president Sisi’s speech at the Extraordinary Joint Arab-Islamic Summit in Riyadh :
“Allow me at the onset to extend gratitude to the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia for hosting this extraordinary summit, in these exceptional circumstances, as time passes heavily on Gaza’s innocent civilians who are subjected to killing, siege, and inhumane practices that take us back to the Middle Ages.
Those necessitate a serious stance by the international community, if it seeks to maintain the minimal level of its political and moral credibility.
As time passes heavily on Palestine and its people, it also passes on us and all peoples with a free conscience painfully and sadly. It discloses the evils of double standards, the imbalance of sound logic and the collapse of humanitarian claims, which, unfortunately, fail miserably in this revealing test.
The international community, especially the Security Council, bears a direct responsibility to work seriously and decisively to achieve the following without delay:
First: an immediate and sustainable ceasefire in the strip, with no restrictions or conditions.
Second: the halt of all practices that target the forced displacement of Palestinians to any place outside their land.
Third: the international community must assume its responsibility to ensure the security of innocent civilians of the Palestinian people.
Fourth: ensuring safe, rapid and sustainable access for humanitarian aid. Israel bears its international responsibility, being the occupying force.
Fifth: reaching a formula for the settlement of the conflict, based on the two-state solution and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, along the borders of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.
Sixth: conducting an international investigation into all violations committed against international law.
From the beginning, Egypt has condemned the targeting, killing and terrorizing of all civilians from both sides, as well as all acts that violate international law and international humanitarian law. And today, we reiterate this clear condemnation, while emphasizing, at the same time, that the policies of collective punishment of the people of Gaza, including the killing, the siege, and the forced displacement are utterly unacceptable. They are not justifiable under the pretext of self-defense or any other claims, and must end immediately with no delay.
Egypt has repeatedly warned against the consequences of unilateral policies and it warns now that failure to stop the war in Gaza portends the expansion of military confrontations in the region. Despite self-restraint attempts, the prolonged attacks and their unprecedented brutality are enough to change the equation and its calculations overnight.
Finally, I address the active international powers, and the friends of Israel before any other party. Egypt and the Arabs have pursued the path of peace for decades and years and presented courageous initiatives for peace. Now comes your great responsibility to effectively pressure to immediately stop the Palestinian bloodshed, then address the root causes of the conflict and give the right to its owners as the only means to achieve security for all the peoples of the region, for time has come for them to live in peace and security without fear or terrorization. Without children being killed or orphaned, without new generations born to be surrounded by hatred and hostility.
Let the whole world unite, governments and peoples, to implement a just solution to the Palestinian issue and to end the occupation in a manner that befits our humanity and is consistent with the values we call for: justice, freedom, and respect for rights…all rights, not some of them.”
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