CAIRO/RIYADH/KUWAIT: The State of Kuwait called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and for relevant international agencies to assume their responsibilities towards protecting civilians, in addition to the importance of allowing humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people.

Kuwait’s Assistant Foreign Minister for Human Rights Affairs Ambassador Sheikha Jawaher Al-Sabah delivered a speech on Thursday before an emergency meeting of the Arab Human Rights Committee to discuss the crimes of the Zionist entity’s occupation against humanity in the Gaza Strip.

Sheikha Jawaher said that Kuwait’s request to hold a special session comes out of its belief in the importance of the Arab League’s role in supporting the Palestinian cause. “We meet today, 20 days after the horrific and brutal attacks launched with all barbarism by the occupying Zionist entity on the Gaza Strip under the pretext of the right to self-defense,” Sheikha Jawaher added.

She described these violations as “war crimes”, stressing that forced displacement, apartheid, and blocking access to humanitarian aid are a grave violation of international humanitarian law. She also pointed out that all of this is happening in the face of a terrible silence from advocates of human rights. Sheikha Jawaher reaffirmed the principled and firm position of Kuwait on the Palestinian issue.

The Gulf countries are united on the issue of halting the Zionist entity’s aggression against the Gaza Strip in addition to allowing the entry of urgent relief aid, said Secretary General of the GCC Jasem Al-Budaiwi on Thursday. Speaking to (CNN Business), Al-Budaiwi called for avoiding double standards in international reactions to the appalling violations carried out by the Zionist entity’s aggressors against the people of Gaza.

He reiterated calls for establishing an independent Palestinian state within the 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as capital, adding that civilians should be avoided during the time of war according to international law.

Meanwhile, the fourth Kuwaiti aid plane, carrying 10 tons of necessities and supplies, departed Kuwait on Thursday, heading to Egypt to provide assistance to the people of the Gaza Strip. This initiative came in line with the Kuwaiti leadership’s directives and reflected the people’s heartfelt support to the Palestinian people. Government and non-government entities as well as charities had coordinated their

efforts to gather supplies and send them to Gaza. On Monday, the first aid plane took off from Kuwait carrying around 40 tons of relief materials, including medical supplies and ambulances for the people of Gaza who suffer from continuous attacks from the unjust Zionist entity occupation forces. Meanwhile, the Palestinian health authorities in Gaza announced on Thursday that the death toll of the Zionist entity’s aggression on the Gaza Strip rose to 7,028 and injuries to 18,484. The Palestinian Health Spokesperson Dr Ashraf Al-Qudra said in a press conference that the recent deaths include 2,913 children, 1,709 women and 397 elderly people.

He added that the Zionist attacks targeted 57 health institutes, 12 hospitals and 32 healthcare centers, leading to the death of 101 healthcare workers, and the destruction of 25 ambulances. He warned of a health catastrophe as a result of hospitals turning into shelters housing thousands of displaced people in unsanitary conditions that cause spread of epidemics and infectious diseases.—KUNA