DUBAI: The foreign ministers of Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, Jordan, Bahrain, Oman, Qatar, Kuwait, Egypt and Morocco condemned on Thursday targeting of civilians and violations of international law in Gaza which has been under Israeli bombardment.
Their joint statement mentioned that the right to self-defense does not justify breaking law and neglecting Palestinians’ rights.
The Arab foreign ministers also condemned forced displacement and collective punishment in Gaza, it added.
“We emphasize that the right to self-defense ... does not justify flagrant violations of international law and international humanitarian law, or the deliberate neglect of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people,” the ministers said in their statement.
They also condemned the forced displacement and “collective punishment” in Gaza and emphasized that “the absence of a political solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict has led to repeated acts of violence and suffering for the Palestinian and Israeli peoples and the peoples of the region.”
They further emphasized the need for a two-state solution, ensuring the establishment of “an independent, sovereign, contiguous and viable Palestinian state on the pre-June 4, 1967, lines, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”
* With Reuters
