Baku, Azerbaijan, July 17
By Rufiz Hafizoglu - Trend:
Palestinian hopes of a long-term armistice will be concluded with Israel, Palestinian ambassador to Azerbaijan, Nasser Abdul Kareem told Trend July 17.
Hamas kept up a five-hour "humanitarian truce" in the Gaza Strip on the morning of July 17, a first step towards resolving the problem, according to the Palestinian representative.
He pointed out that the president of the Palestinian Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, is currently in Egypt, hoping to resolve this crisis.
Abdul Kareem stated that the military operations carried out by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip have even more aggravated the humanitarian crisis, as the majority of those killed in these operations are civilians.
"Currently, the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip is critical; the region suffers from acute shortage of drinking water," the diplomat stressed.
He said some people blame the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas) for the military operations carried out by the Israeli Air Force in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian ambassador underscored that the current problem in the region shouldn't be viewed in a narrow sense, as there are no accidents in politics.
"In order to understand the essence of the problem, one should look back in the history of the region," he added. The diplomat believes that the main problems of the region are the occupation of the Palestinian territories and the unfair treatment of the Palestinian people in general. The ambassador stressed that despite all the efforts taken by the Palestinian government towards reaching an armistice, the government of Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu in Israel impedes any progress.
Abdul Kareem underscored that Israel's prime minister is reluctant to continue the peace negotiations with the Palestinian side, as one of the paragraphs of the peace agreement requires the release of the Palestinian prisoners. "But the Israeli prime minister didn't keep his word and this had a negative impact on the situation," he stressed. The diplomat also touched upon the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers in the West Bank of the Jordan River, and pointed out that Palestine, under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas strongly condemned this fact.
The Palestinian ambassador stated that Netanyahu just used the kidnapping and murder of three Jewish teenagers for political purposes. The diplomat pointed out that the kidnapping and murder of the Jewish teenagers is a crime that should be investigated by the police and it shouldn't be used for political purposes.
"Instead of investigating the murder of the teenagers, the Israeli government gave a start to military operations in Palestine," Abdul Kareem said. The ambassador stressed that Israel still has no evidence that the crime against the Israeli teenagers was committed by Palestinians.
The diplomat added that the inappropriate activities of the Israeli government resulted in the murder of a young Palestinian by the Jewish radicals in revenge for the kidnapping and murder of three teenagers. Abdul Kareem said that after this incident, Netanyahu should have acted more like a head of state, rather than using it as a pretext to start a military operation.
"Like the Israelis, Palestinians also want to live in peace and the public opinion polls show that around 70 percent of Palestinians and Israelis want peace," he noted. The ambassador stressed that the military operations carried out in the Palestinian territory cause danger for both Palestinians and Israelis, adding that nevertheless, in general, Palestinians suffer from the military operations. The diplomat added that the current situation in the region, the occupation of the Palestinian territories, the military operations carried out in the region, will not benefit Israel and the country's government should understand this. The Palestinian ambassador said that many Arab states, member states of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) broke diplomatic relations with Israel due to the occupation of the Palestinian lands by this country.
"Peace with Palestinians would benefit Israel and contribute to the development of its relations with Muslim countries," the ambassador stressed. Abdul Kareem believes that the solution of this problem is possible after the liberation of the Palestinian lands and creation of a Palestinian state within the 1967 borders with the capital in East Jerusalem.
Edited by CN