KUWAIT: Kuwait Minister of Foreign Affairs Sheikh Salem Abdullah Al-Jaber Al-Sabah received a phone call from Portuguese Foreign Minister Joao Titterington Gomes Cravinho. Sheikh Salem asserted during the phone call the importance of ending the cycle of violence and ensuring such violence would not spread to other areas, including the protection of civilians. The two ministers also discussed the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and Gaza Strip, including boosting efforts to ensure humanitarian aid reaches the Palestinian people, in addition to achieving a just and permanent solution to the Palestinian conflict.

Right side of history

The Council of Arab Ambassadors in Brussels has called on the European Union to put pressure on Zionists to stop their aggression in Gaza and underlined that there can be no peace and security in the region without a solution to the question of Palestine. Speaking at a press conference organized by the Council at the Brussels Press Club, Jordan’s Ambassador to Belgium and the EU, Saja Majali, said, “We as Arab countries enjoy partnerships with the EU, and we expect the EU to also stand by the Palestinian people.”

“We urge our friends to be on the right side of history, and the right side of history is to stand with the helpless Palestinian people,” she stressed. Majali noted that if one thing has united the Arab world, it is the Palestinian cause. “We have never been divided when it came to Palestine, and we express solidarity with our Palestinian brethren,” she added. On his part, Palestine’s Ambassador to the EU and Belgium, Abdalrahim Alfarra, called on the EU to put pressure on Zionists to stop the aggression in Gaza.

“We call on the EU to play a catalyst role to urge Zionists to meet their international obligations as an occupying power and return to negotiations on a two-state solution that provides a viable state for Palestine,” he said. “It is beyond belief that some still speak of the right to self-defense of an occupying power that has made it clear it is seeking blind vengeance, forced transfer, and annihilation of our people,” Alfarra said.

On his part, Egyptian Ambassador to Belgium and the European Union Badr Abdel Aty said there is a high level of anger in our region, and we are very concerned about the spillover from the current cycle of violence. “The core of the problem in our region is the Palestinian issue. Without solving it, there cannot be comprehensive peace and security in our region,” he stressed. The Egyptian ambassador denied that the Rafah border crossing from Egypt to Gaza has been closed from the Egyptian side.

“This is not true and false information,” he said, and he clarified that aid convoys from the EU, the UN, and the international community are waiting at the border for security guarantees from Zionists that they will not be attacked. He stressed that the transfer of the people of Gaza is “not acceptable to Egyptians, Palestinians, and Arabs.” Saudi Ambassador to Belgium, Dr. Khalid Al-Jindan, said in his intervention that so long as the occupation continues, the crisis in the region will continue. Answering a question on western hostages reportedly being held by Hamas in Gaza, Aljindan recalled that there are 6,000 Palestinian prisoners in jails and nobody talks about them as hostages.

Fadi Hajali, Ambassador of Lebanon to Belgium and the EU, said the people in Lebanon are “emotionally very distressed” by what might happen to them following the atrocities taking place in Gaza. “Our request is for an immediate ceasefire and to help the civilians as fast as possible,” he added. The press conference was organized by the Council of Arab Ambassadors, including the Kuwait embassy, to address the aggression on Palestine, its people, and the European position. — KUNA