Palestinian Ambassador in Nigeria, Ambassador Abdullah Mohammed Shawesh, has called for a ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war, saying the horrendous killings from the war call for concerns, as two women were killed every hour while many children are lost to the war daily.
Shawesh made the demand on Sunday at a roundtable discourse with newsmen to address the ongoing Israel’s war on Gaza, even as he equally demanded an investigation commission to look into what happened not only on October 7 but also incidents that occurred on October 5 and 6.
He said this was being demanded because the October 7 incident did not happen in a vacuum, noting sadly that over 33,000 people had been killed, with many bodies already decomposing at the time the corpses were found.
The envoy pointed out that Gaza is at present completely leveled, adding that tens of thousands of homes and buildings were now in rubble.
The Palestinian Ambassador, to this end, called for humanitarian aid for the people of Gaza, saying this became imperative because of the humongous starvation in the land, as, according to him, access to food and water had been blocked, with many not able to eat for days.
This just as the envoy further urged that all hostages on both sides should be freed, saying that the African Union (AU) should be made a member of the commission of inquiry on the issues around the ongoing war in Gaza.
The envoy, while making the demands, maintained that it was erroneous to allude that the ongoing war had a religious undertone, declaring that it was not a Muslim-Jew conflict because there were Jewish and Christians on the Palestinian side who were vehemently fighting the Israelis.
According to him, the religious undertone is propaganda orchestrated by Israel, some western countries, and a section of the media, saying that the Palestinians were not asking anyone to support them “but all they want is for people to listen to their narrative on the issue.”
Shawesh pointed out that it was in the collective interest of all for the war to end and “justice is done, including respect for international laws.”
“We are calling for all to be part of the investigation. It is very important.
“It is all in our interest that international laws should be implemented,” he said.
Speaking further, the Palestinian Ambassador lamented the incitement against Palestinians, describing it as unprecedented, as, according to him, many Israeli leaders and their supporters are making provocative statements against Palestinians.
Also speaking, the Secretary-General of the Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs (NSCIA), Prof. Ishaq Oloyede, in his welcome address, stated that religion was insignificant in the Israel-Hamas War, positing that the present situation should be looked at from the perspective of humanity and a humanitarian crisis.
He said that NSCIA organized the interactive session purely due to the humanitarian crisis that the war had birthed and the reason Christian and Muslim journalists were invited for the interactive session.
The NSCIA scribe maintained that those imputing religious collaboration to the war had a limited position and understanding of the issues.
“It is not about religion but about justice and fairness.
“People who write or look at it from a religious angle have little understanding of the issue on the ground,” Oloyede said.
