By Patrick Ofoe Nudzi
Accra, July 22, GNA – The United States must rise above its political interest to end the genocide being committed by Israel in Gaza, Mr Mahmoud Sedqi Abdalrahman Alhabbash, Chief Justice, the State of Palestine, has stated.
He said the solution to Israel’s annihilation of the people of Gaza and Palestine lies in the hands of the US by calling Israel to a cease fire as Washington did in the 12-day Israel-Iran war.
Mr Abdalrahman Alhabbash, who is also the Advisor to the President of the State of Palestine on Religious Affairs and Peace Relations, said this during a media briefing at the Palestinian Embassy in Accra, following his visit with an entourage’s to Ghana.
He said the Palestinians had called for peace and a two-state solution but the Israeli government had refused and defied all international laws and protocols with its bombardments, destructions and takeover of the Palestinian areas in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“The decision to stop this genocide is in the White House. If the Americans have the courage to do so, this genocide could be stopped immediately. Only a call from the White House to Mr Netanyahu will end it. He will have no choice to continue and so once the Americans decide to stop this genocide, it will be stopped,” the Chief Justice said.
He said the Israeli aggression and genocide had caused closed to eight million Palestinians to be refugees outside Palestine and about four million of them had also become refugees inside Palestine.
Mr Abdalrahman Alhabbash said more than 60,000 people had been killed since October 2023, over 100,000 injured and more than 70 per cent of the houses and the buildings, including hospitals, schools, mosques and churches in the Gaza Strip had been destroyed.
“More than two million Gazans right now are suffering hunger because of the Israeli aggression, because Israel prevents humanitarian aid from entering Gaza. I am a Gazan. I lost my house, my brother and my sister. More than 80 people from my family have been killed by the Israelis,” he said.
The Chief Justice said all indications had shown that the Israel government did not want a real peace with the Palestinians but kept talking about peace, adding that which peace could be achieved when they refused to sit at the negotiation table.
“We are not against Jews or against Judaism but against occupation, we are against colonialism. They must recognise our rights, our State and our rights to have our own State. Once the Israeli government achieves a peace agreement with Palestinian people, we will live together in peace,” he added.
Mr Abdalrahman Alhabbash said some priorities they had been seeking included stopping the Israeli aggression against Gaza, protecting the existence of the Palestinians in Gaza Strip and preventing the Israelis from evacuating Palestinians from the Gaza Strip to outside Palestine and allowing humanitarian aid to get to hungry people inside Gaza Strip.
Mr Kwesi Pratt Jnr., Managing Editor, Insight Newspaper and General Secretary, Socialist Movement of Ghana, who was at the briefing, said, the genocide in Gaza showed the hypocrisy of the Western nations as they refused to act to preserve lives and dignity of the Palestinian people.
“In the midst of this genocide they continue to supply weapons and diplomatic support to the Israeli regime which has abandoned all sense of dignity and any sense of propriety. We pledge to support and continue the resistance against the occupation, colonialism and the blatant theft of Palestinian resources,” he said
Mr Pratt Jr., said: “One of the biggest problems in Palestine today is that even customs duties which are due the Palestinian Authority, is being stolen by the Israeli administration and no government, no people of any moral standing can continue to collaborate with this genocidal regime.”
GNA
Edited by Samuel Osei-Frempong