Abdallah Shawesh, the Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, has posited that Israel intends to deport Palestinians to Egypt.
He made the claim during a news conference in Abuja on Wednesday, a day after a rocket attack killed at least 500 Palestinians at the Christian-run Ahli Arab Hospital in downtown Gaza City.
Protests have erupted across the Arab world and Muslim countries in response to the incident, although the Israeli military and Palestinian militant organizations have traded blames for the strike.
“Yesterday, immediately after this horrific attack, the designated digital spokesman for the Israeli Prime Minister, Hanania Naftali, published a tweet admitting that Israel had bombed the Baptist Hospital in Gaza,” Shawesh said Naftali later deleted his tweet.
He however expressed outrage that Western politicians were assisting Israel in carrying out its objectives to drive Palestinians from their homes.
“The double standards, hypocrisy, and full support and sponsorship of many Western countries encourage Israel to carry out its old plans of expelling Palestinians from Gaza to the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula, in a clear attempt to repeat the ethnic cleansing Palestinians faced in 1948.
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“International law, particularly international humanitarian law and human rights law, must be respected. Israel should be subject to no exceptions or impunity, and it should not be above the law.
“It is time for the international community to stand firm and united in support of the international law,” he told reporters.
The envoy stated that his country is willing to sit down with Israel to work out their disagreements, adding that Palestine has always supported discussion that would culminate in a two-state solution.
“We are prepared to sit at the negotiating table. Israel is the one who is unwilling to engage in dialogue,” Shawesh stated.
When asked if Palestine is willing to give up Hamas in order to resume negotiations with Israel, he stated, “Resistance is a natural behavior in all people.
“The Palestinian people as a whole are fighting the Israeli occupation. It has nothing to do with Hamas. Even if Hamas is not there, we will continue to oppose Israel’s occupation. Our opposition is legal.”
He advocated for a two-state solution, stating that the Palestinian people own the West Bank, Jerusalem, and Gaza.
