Gaza – The massacre committed by Israel, at dawn on Saturday, by bombing a school sheltering displaced people in the Gaza Strip, was met with widespread Arab condemnation, including demands for the international community to intervene to stop Israel’s massacres against civilians in the Strip and to impose sanctions on it.
The Arab condemnations of the massacre also included calls for the Security Council to impose an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and demands for an urgent international investigation into the continued Israeli targeting of schools and shelters for the displaced in the Strip.
This came in statements by the foreign ministries of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the UAE, Kuwait, Bahrain, the Sultanate of Oman, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Mauritania and Yemen, as well as the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab League and Al-Azhar Al-Sharif.
Earlier on Saturday, the Israeli army launched an airstrike on the “Al-Tabi’in” school in the Al-Daraj neighborhood in Gaza City, where displaced people fleeing Israeli military operations had taken refuge, killing at least 100 people and wounding dozens while they were performing the dawn prayer.
Arab condemnations
Saudi Arabia condemned in the “strongest terms the targeting of the school by the Israeli occupation forces,” stressing “the need to stop the mass massacres in Gaza.”
The Kingdom condemned “the international community’s failure to hold Israel accountable for these violations.”
In Doha, Qatar condemned the same bombing, calling it “a horrific massacre, a brutal crime against defenceless civilians and a flagrant violation of the basic principles of international humanitarian law.”
Qatar renewed its “demand for an urgent international investigation, including sending independent UN investigators, to investigate the facts regarding the continued targeting of schools and shelters for the displaced by the Israeli occupation forces.”
She called on the international community to “provide full protection to the displaced, prevent the occupation forces from implementing their plans to force them to flee the Strip, and oblige them to comply with international laws.”
In Abu Dhabi, the UAE condemned the targeting of the “Al-Tabi’een” school, stressing “its absolute rejection of targeting civilians and civilian objects.”
She stressed the “need for an immediate ceasefire to prevent bloodshed,” calling on “the international community to make every effort to avoid further escalation of the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.”
Kuwait also expressed its condemnation of the Israeli bombing itself, stressing “the need for the international community and the Security Council to intervene in order to stop these heinous crimes against a defenceless people, and to exert more efforts to stop the bloodshed.”
She stressed the “necessity of providing civil protection to defenceless Palestinians, and forcing the occupying entity to comply with international resolutions in this regard.”
In Manama, Bahrain “strongly” condemned the Israeli targeting of the “Al-Tabi’een” school.
The Kingdom called on the “international community to assume its responsibilities to provide the necessary protection for the civilian population in Gaza from the ongoing Israeli attacks.”
In Muscat, the Sultanate of Oman condemned the Israeli bombing of the school, describing it as “brutal.”
The Sultanate renewed its “call on the international community to take immediate action to stop these blatant attacks, work to protect innocent civilians, hold the Israeli occupation forces accountable, and impose international sanctions on Israel.”
Egypt condemned in the “strongest terms” the Israeli bombing itself, and called for “a unified and effective international position that provides protection for the Palestinian people in Gaza, and puts an end to the series of targeting of defenceless civilians.”
Cairo considered that “the continued commission of these large-scale crimes, and the deliberate killing of these huge numbers of unarmed civilians, whenever the mediators’ efforts intensified to try to reach a formula for a ceasefire in the Strip, is conclusive evidence of the absence of political will on the Israeli side to end this fierce war.”
In Amman, Jordan condemned the Israeli bombing in the “strongest terms,” considering it a “flagrant violation of international law and a continuation of the systematic targeting of civilians and displaced persons’ shelters.”
The statement stressed that “this targeting, which comes at a time when mediators are seeking to resume negotiations on a prisoner exchange deal that will lead to a permanent ceasefire, is an indication of the Israeli government’s attempt to obstruct and thwart these efforts.”
He stressed “the need for the international community, especially the Security Council, to assume its responsibilities to stop the Israeli aggression on Gaza immediately.”
Last Thursday, the leaders of Egypt, Qatar and the United States called, in a joint statement, on Israel and Hamas to resume ceasefire and prisoner exchange talks in Doha or Cairo next Wednesday or Thursday.
In Baghdad, Iraq described the Israeli bombing of the “Al-Tabi’in” school as “barbaric,” and considered it “a flagrant violation of all international norms and covenants, and shows the Zionist entity’s disregard for international initiatives aimed at stopping the aggression on Gaza.”
Iraq stressed the “necessity for the international community, and Islamic countries in particular, to take a firm and unified position to stop these ongoing Zionist crimes and provide immediate protection to the defenceless Palestinian people.”
Yemen also described the same bombing as “barbaric,” and called on “the international community to take immediate steps to cease fire and put an end to the ongoing crimes and violations against the Palestinian people.”
In Nouakchott, Mauritania condemned the Israeli bombing, describing it as “a new barbaric aggression that constitutes a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law.”
Mauritania called on “the international community to assume its full responsibilities and work to stop the aggression on Gaza and provide protection for the Palestinians.”
Condemnations from organizations
At the organizational level, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation condemned the Israeli targeting of the “Al-Tabi’een” school.
The organization held Israel “responsible for this crime,” and called on “the international community to hold it accountable.”
Likewise, the Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council, Jassim Al-Badawi, expressed his “strongest condemnation and denunciation of the new Israeli crime,” and considered it a “war crime.”
Al-Badawi called on “the international community to assume its responsibilities and take immediate and serious action to cease fire immediately and stop the dangerous Israeli military operations.”
In turn, the Secretary-General of the Arab League condemned, in a statement, the “Fajr massacre,” stressing that it was “a cowardly act and a disgrace to the occupation army.”
He stressed that “killing displaced civilians during dawn prayers is a crime that exceeds even the low level known to the Israeli army in terms of its extreme baseness and lack of conscience.”
Al-Azhar Al-Sharif in Egypt also “strongly condemned the bombing,” describing it as “a brutal, terrorist, and treacherous criminal act that targeted innocent civilians who were standing before God performing the dawn prayer, along with their women, children, and elderly.”
He stressed that what happened was “a crime that all human languages are unable to express its cruelty, heinousness and barbarism, and is devoid of all meanings of mercy and humanity,” calling on “all free people of the world to continue to pressure this terrorist entity by all means, to stop its crimes and acts of genocide.”
By targeting Al-Tabi’een School, the number of schools housing displaced persons that were bombed by the Israeli army in Gaza City in just one week has risen to 7, leaving a large number of dead and wounded.
Agencies
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2024-08-12 14:05:11
