Israel declared a state of war this Saturday after the attack by Palestinian militias in the Gaza Strip, led by the Islamist movement Hamas, which launched thousands of rockets against Israeli cities and infiltrated the territory, in a surprise and unprecedented attack.
The attack triggered retaliatory Israeli bombings in Gaza and unleashed an escalation of war that left, on Saturday night, more than 400 dead between both sides.
EL TIEMPO spoke with Raouf Almalki, Palestinian ambassador to Colombia, about the recent escalation and what comes after this Saturday’s attacks.
-Hamas claimed responsibility for this unprecedented attack against Israeli security. What is his position regarding the situation that unfolded this Saturday?
The Palestinian position is very clear that this situation is the total responsibility of the State of Israel, which has totally annihilated and annulled the two-state solution and the creation of a Palestinian state through its continued criminal policies against the Palestinian people.
Colonization, the occupation from 67 to today, the on-the-ground annexation of the West Bank and the annexation of Jerusalem, the separation wall, the blockade on Gaza City, the raids on the Al-Aqsa mosque, murders, house demolitions, land confiscation, This entire system of apartheid that Israel has created has closed any door to a peaceful solution to the conflict and it is what has created the ground for there to be an explosion on the part of a Palestinian sector against this situation.
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Palestine has warned this many times. The last one was at the United Nations, at the General Assembly, where our President once again asked the attention of the international community on the situation in Palestine: 75 years of suffering, displacement, and where We see that two-state solution fading, where we see that more and more Jewish settlers are settling illegally in occupied Palestinian territory every day and the international community does not take any measures against Israel, which does not abide by any of the United Nations resolutions. This is what creates violent situations like this.
-How do you rate the response of Benjamin Netanyahu’s government in Israel after the attacks? The prime minister stated that they are at war and ordered Operation Iron Swords and a mobilization of reservists…
Israel has always been created based on violence in ethnic cleansing against the Palestinian population. It used force to establish itself on the occupied Palestinian territory. Until now, Israel continues to believe that if force does not achieve the capitulation of the Palestinian people then even more force is necessary, but they have not realized that through all these years, 75 years of occupation, Apartheid, etc., the Palestinian people continue to fight for their rights and that this is not the way.
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The path is not violence, the path is not war. Israel has always declared war against the Palestinian people. You can see on the news every day how Israel kills people, civilians, young people, women, men, old people and Palestinians every day for no reason.
What we say to Israel is that more Palestinian civilian victims, of which there have been many over the years, are not going to end the problem. The problem only ends when Israel’s occupation ends and the colonization it has been practicing over the years ends.
-Why can this unprecedented escalation of violence be a warning situation for the region (Middle East) but also for the world?
That’s what Israel is trying to say, that they can jump over the Palestinians and make peace with the Arab countries. Peace in the Middle East cannot reign if there is no peace with the Palestinians and peace with the Palestinians is achieved only by establishing a free and independent State in the Palestinian territory occupied in 67.
And this situation can escalate even further and become a regional war and that is what the world does not want to see, especially now with the oil crisis and the crisis in Ukraine. The world does not want to see more wars, but it is not putting limits on Israel and its aspiration to annex all Palestinian territory and totally annihilate the Palestinian people and their right to free self-determination.
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-What steps will the Palestinians take now after this Saturday’s attacks? What is going to happen from now on?
I hope that what is happening is a reason for the entire world to realize the seriousness of the situation. We hope that the call that President Gustavo Petro made and that other countries like Brazil are now making to convene an international Peace conference works. Israel has to be a member and has to abide by everything that conference says following the lines of international law and United Nations resolutions.
(Keep reading: The shocking images left by the attack by Palestinian militiamen on Israel)
This is the only solution that currently exists, because time is running out and Every day we see less possibility of the creation of a Palestinian State and thus less possibility of peace in that area of the Middle East. so important for world peace.
ANGIE NATALY RUIZ HURTADO
INTERNATIONAL EDITORIAL
TIME
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