DUBAI: Bahrain and Kuwait have taken their concerns over Palestine to the global stage, with top envoys of both countries expressing their dismay and rejection to the UN General Assembly of the Israeli violence against the occupied territories.
Bahrain rejects the “continued cycle of violence and the dangerous escalation between the Palestinian factions in the Gaza Strip and the Israeli forces,” a report from state news agency BNA said, quoting Jamal Faris Al-Ruwaie, Bahrain’s permanent representative to the UN, in his speech before the General Assembly.
“The victims of this military escalation are innocent civilians, civilian facilities and houses, which should be categorically rejected by the international community in general,” he said.
Kuwait also condemned “with the strongest of terms” crimes and policies carried out by the Israeli forces in the occupied Palestinian territories, including the city of Jerusalem.
“Kuwait denounces all of Israel’s illegal settlement schemes, its bids to seize Palestinians’ houses and properties, particularly citizens’ assets in Jerusalem, namely in Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood,” foreign minister and minister of state for cabinet affairs Ahmad Nasser Al-Mohammad Al-Sabah told the UN body.
“Such practices are illegal and illegitimate breaches and constitute flagrant violation of the relevant international resolutions and references,” Al-Sabah said, in a report from Kuwait news agency KUNA.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II also aired his concerns on the Gaza situation, taking to Twitter to stress the need to de-escalate the situation there.
Good conversation with my friend US VP Kamala Harris. I raised need to end escalation in Gaza, preserve historical, legal status quo in Jerusalem, especially at Al Haram Al Sharif, and achieve just peace. Looking forward to advancing our partnership, ensuring regional stability
— عبدالله بن الحسين (@KingAbdullahII) May 20, 2021
The Jordanian ruler also said he had a telephone discussion with US Vice President Kamala Harris on the need to preserve the ‘legal status quo on Jerusalem.’
Egypt mediated a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas, which began on Friday, after 11 days of fighting, which killed 232 Palestinians and injured scores more.
Cairo said it would send two delegations to monitor the ceasefire, as both sides warned they were ready to retaliate if there were any truce violations by the other.
The violence erupted on May 10, triggered by Palestinians’ anger at what they saw as Israeli curbs on their rights in Jerusalem, including during police confrontations with protesters at Al-Aqsa mosque during the Ramadan fasting month.
Manama expresses its “strong condemnation of the Israeli attacks on worshipers in Al-Aqsa Mosque, and the attempts of Israeli settlers to displace Palestinians from their homes in Sheikh Jarrah,” Bahrain’s Al-Ruwaie said in his UN speech.
“The duty of the Israeli government to fully respect international law, fulfill its international obligations as the occupying power in the occupied Palestinian territories, respect religious freedoms in the holy sites and not to change the legal and historical status of Jerusalem.”
“The attacks and crimes perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces are part of a chain of violations of Security Council resolutions 242, 478 and 2334; among others, stipulation that sanctity of Jerusalem cannot be desecrated,” Kuwait’s Al-Sabah meanwhile told the global body.
