GCC Slams Israel’s Attack on Khan Younis, Calling it a War Crime

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
TT

GCC Slams Israel’s Attack on Khan Younis, Calling it a War Crime

Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)
Palestinians inspect the damage at the site of Israeli strikes on a makeshift displacement camp in Mawasi Khan Yunis on September 10, 2024, amid the ongoing war between Israel and Palestinian group Hamas. (AFP)

Secretary General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Jasem Mohamed Albudaiwi strongly condemned on Tuesday the “brutal massacre carried out by the Israeli forces against innocent Palestinian refugees in Khan Younis in Gaza.”

He stressed that these continuous and brutal attacks perpetrated by the Israeli forces against unarmed civilians in Gaza and the rest of the Palestinian territories “can only be described as deliberate war crimes, revealing a blatant and systematic criminal approach that reflects an utter disregard for international and humanitarian laws and treaties.”

He added that these acts are “blatant contempt for all legal, ethical, and humanitarian values,” the GCC said in a statement.

Albudaiwi called on the international community “to take immediate and urgent action to put an end to these heinous crimes, take decisive measures to cease fire immediately, subject the Israeli forces to accountability for their crimes against humanity, and hold the Israeli government responsible for its racist and barbaric policies against the defenseless Palestinians.”

An Israeli strike hit a crowded Palestinian tent camp early Tuesday in Gaza, killing at least 19 people and wounding 60, Palestinian officials said.

The overnight strike occurred in Mawasi, a sprawl of crowded tent camps along the Gaza coast that Israel designated as a humanitarian zone for hundreds of thousands of displaced civilians to seek shelter from the nearly year-old Israel-Hamas war.

The Muslim World League (MWL) also strongly condemned “the horrific massacres perpetrated by the Israeli forces against the Palestinian people.”

It denounced the continued targeting of unarmed displaced Palestinians in the Mawasi area of Khan Younis, located in a designated “safe zone” in the southern Gaza Strip.

In a statement, MWL Secretary General Sheikh Dr. Mohammed Al-Issa expressed his deepest concern over the Israeli government's “blatant violation of all international and humanitarian resolutions, laws, and norms.”

“This ongoing humanitarian catastrophe, unfolding before the eyes of the world, is a direct challenge to the international community's calls for the protection of innocent lives,” he added.

Sheikh Al-Issa emphasized that “there is no justification for this barbarism and humanitarian tragedy other than defiance, arrogance, and revenge against innocent lives. This escalation only serves to complicate the Palestinian issue and hinder the pursuit of peace in the region.”

The MWL called upon the international community “to take urgent action to halt these ongoing massacres, confront the systematic killing, and stop the humanitarian catastrophe facing the Palestinian people.”



GCC, Russia Condemn Int’l Community's Failure to Stop War on Gaza

The foreign ministers of Gulf countries and Russia convene the GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Riyadh on Monday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The foreign ministers of Gulf countries and Russia convene the GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Riyadh on Monday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
TT

GCC, Russia Condemn Int’l Community's Failure to Stop War on Gaza

The foreign ministers of Gulf countries and Russia convene the GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Riyadh on Monday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)
The foreign ministers of Gulf countries and Russia convene the GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Riyadh on Monday. (Asharq Al-Awsat)

Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdulrahman Al Thani stressed on Monday that joint cooperation between the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) and Russia has helped develop relations and coordinate stances on common causes. 

He hailed the continued strategic dialogue and coordination between the two sides on various issues. 

He made his remarks at the GCC-Russia Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue in Riyadh on Monday.  

Al Thani noted the growing escalation in the region and unjustified violence as the suffering of the Palestinian people deepens. He noted the military escalation in the Red Sea region, warning that the entire stability of the region was under threat. 

He hoped regional and international partners would exert all forms of necessary pressure to impose a ceasefire in the war on Gaza and immediately kick off a comprehensive political process that would lead to a just, comprehensive and sustainable solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

Ending the war on Gaza is the first step in easing the tensions in the region and paving the way for permanent peace in the area, he remarked. 

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said cooperation between his country and the GCC was a priority for Russia’s foreign policy. 

He stressed that it was “impossible” to achieve peace in the Middle East without resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict. 

The international community “has failed in stopping the Israeli aggression and genocide in Gaza,” he added, describing the violence against the Palestinians as “unprecedented” in Arab-Israeli wars. 

Moreover, he held the United States primarily responsible for obstructing all international resolutions aimed at reaching a ceasefire in Gaza.  

Russia and the GCC, on the other hand, have exerted all efforts to end the fighting and establish an independent Palestinian state based on international resolutions, he went on to say. 

He warned that failure to resolve pending disputes in the region would lead to a broad regional war. 

GCC Secretary General Jasem Mohamed AlBudaiwi lamented that “many conflicts and crises plague our world today, seriously affecting its security and stability.” 

The GCC member states are making every possible effort to contribute to resolving disputes and settling conflicts through dialogue, negotiations and peaceful diplomatic means, he added. 

AlBudaiwi stressed that the ongoing Israeli violations against Palestinian civilians and the crimes committed by Israeli forces violate all human values and charters, including international law, humanitarian law, and relevant UN resolutions. 

“This unfortunate reality highlights the failure of the international community to find a comprehensive and permanent solution to this tragic issue,” he noted. 

AlBudaiwi urged the international community to take urgent, serious and decisive actions to protect civilians in Gaza and to support the State of Palestine's efforts to secure recognition from more countries, as well as to assist it in obtaining full membership in the UN and convene an international conference to achieve a comprehensive peace based on the two-state solution. 

The Gulf foreign ministers also held the GCC-India Joint Ministerial Meeting for Strategic Dialogue and a similar strategic dialogue with Brazil.