By Ghadeer Ghloum and Agencies

KUWAIT: Kuwait on Tuesday strongly condemned and denounced the Zionist occupation forces’ barbaric airstrike on the Baptist Al-Ahli Hospital in the Gaza Strip, where hundreds of innocent civilians were killed. For the past two days, Kuwaitis have been protesting in solidarity with the Palestinian resistance in Irada Square. The occupation forces targeting of hospitals and public facilities is a violation of international humanitarian law, according to a statement from Kuwait’s ministry of foreign affairs.

The ministry said Kuwait also urged the international community and the UN Security Council to immediately stop such inhuman acts against the Palestinian people. Such practices run counter to all laws, religious teachings and human norms, it said. Kuwait also reiterated its principled stance in support of the Palestinian people and vowed to continue offering the assistance they need to alleviate their suffering. It also renewed the call for serious and swift action to stop such gruesome crimes. The ministry of foreign affairs also urged citizens planning to travel to Lebanon to delay it “during this current phase”.

The ministry in a statement called upon the citizens present in Lebanon to “voluntarily return” home unless there is a pending need for their presence there, considering the current conditions in the region. On Wednesday, Kuwait said its support for the Palestinians would remain “unwavering” at a time where a spate of Zionist attacks on the Gaza Strip has plunged the region into its worst violence in decades. Calling for a decisive end to “(Zionist) atrocities” committed against the Palestinian people, Kuwait’s Foreign Minister Sheikh Salem Al-Sabah told a gathering of top diplomats from the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Jeddah that these “appalling” acts contravene international laws and basic humanitarian principles.

People gather around bodies of Palestinians killed after a blast ripped through the Ahli Arab Hospital in central Gaza after they were transported to Al-Shifa Hospital on Oct 17, 2023.

The Kuwaiti minister thanked Saudi Arabia for the initiative to host the talks given the alarming status quo, where Zionist forces have stepped up attacks on the Palestinians to “unprecedented levels”, which includes the “targeting of innocent civilians and critical infrastructure”, he underlined. He expressed Kuwait’s “vehement condemnation” of these “criminal acts” perpetrated by (Zionist) forces, calling on the international community to intervene and ensure the protection of innocent Palestinians, chiefly, the establishment of “safe passages” that allow the delivery of much-needed aid, the minister said.

Kuwait has repeatedly warned of the repercussions if the international community continues to handle the situation with “double standards”, he told the OIC foreign ministerial-level talks, reiterating Kuwait’s support for an independent Palestinian state based on 1967 borders. MP Abdulkarim Al-Kandari called on the government to reject the new US Ambassador to Kuwait Karen Sasahara over the US’ total support for Zionist atrocities on Gaza, and warned if her credentials were accepted, he would grill the foreign minister.

Speaking at a protest late Tuesday in Irada Square to condemn the Zionist raid on the hospital in Gaza, Kandari said the attack signals the death of international humanitarian conscience, adding the attack is a massacre not only against the Palestinian people, but also a massacre against humanity. “The least we can do today is not to receive the new US ambassador to Kuwait. This is the least official response” by Kuwait to the massacres of Palestinians, Kandari told cheering crowds. The US administration is financing the Zionist air raids on Gaza and is providing protection and giving international cover to their crimes, he said. Kandari said Kuwait should not welcome the US ambassador-designate, due to arrive in the next two days.

“If the credentials of the ambassador are approved, I will file to grill the foreign minister,” Kandari declared. Sasahara served as the US Consul General in Jerusalem between 2018-2019 until the United States moved its embassy to Jerusalem. She has also served in Amman and Saudi Arabia. MP Abdulaziz Al-Saqabi supported the call by Kandari, adding that the foreign minister should reject the ambassador’s credentials. “The least degree of support (to the Palestinians) is to reject to receive the ambassador of those who support criminals who kill children,” Saqabi said on X.

MP Muhannad Al-Sayer said developments in Gaza require the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states to review their foreign relations. He called for the use of oil and foreign investments as a weapon and for imposing gradual sanctions to save “our people in Palestine”. MP Hasan Jowhar called on his X account on Kuwait to withdraw its investments, worth tens of billions of dollars, from international companies and investment funds whose executives have declared their support to the Zionist entity.

Jowhar said that he has monitored at least eight such companies and funds that declared support for the Zionist entity and urged the prime minister to withdraw Kuwaiti funds from them “so we don’t become partners in shedding Palestinian blood”. Meanwhile, MP Marzouq Al-Ghanem reiterated his call to other MPs and the speaker of the house to consider his motion, which he submitted two days ago, to hold an emergency term of the Assembly to discuss the situation in Gaza, in addition to disputes in Khor Abdullah and Durra gas field.

The assembly is currently in summer recess and the new term opens only on Oct 31. No regular sessions can be held before the new term opens. Ghanem said the Assembly should not wait for two weeks to debate developments in Gaza and instead should convene an emergency term for one day, which requires the signatures of 33 lawmakers.