Palestine, on Tuesday, turned to its Caribbean counterparts, including Guyana, for support in condemning the attacks on Gaza, which have left more than 200 people dead since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas earlier this month.
According to the BBC, the war between Israel and Hamas was triggered by days of escalating clashes between Palestinians and Israeli police at a holy hilltop compound in East Jerusalem.
“The site is revered by both Muslims, who call it the Haram al-Sharif (Noble Sanctuary), and Jews, for whom it is known as the Temple Mount. Hamas demanded Israel remove police from there and the nearby predominantly Arab district of Sheikh Jarrah, where Palestinian families face eviction by Jewish settlers. Hamas launched rockets when its ultimatum went unheeded,” the BBC explained in a report.
During a virtual press conference on Tuesday with journalists from across the Caribbean, Dr. Linda Sobeh, Ambassador of The State of Palestine for Caribbean Affairs said the injustices committed against the Palestinians by Israel cannot go unnoticed, as she lobbied the Caribbean Region and the International Community to condemn the attacks.
“There is more than 15 families that have been completed erased, completely wiped with direct attacks on their homes…hundreds of houses are completely destroyed, more than 40,000 are completely displaced and without homes. They are living in the UN schools, hoping that the schools would be away from the destruction and the attacks of the Israeli rockets,” Dr. Sobeh said as she painted a picture of the situation.
Reports indicate that at least 215 people, including almost 100 women and children, have been killed in Gaza thus far while in Israel, 12 people including two children, have been killed.
On Tuesday, Israel vowed to continue its strikes on Gaza, noting that it will not stop until it dismantles the capabilities of Hamas and Islamic Jihad.
According to the BBC, Israel estimated that at the start of the conflict, the two Palestinian militant factions had an arsenal of about 12,000 rockets or mortars in Gaza. As of Tuesday, the militants had fired some 3,300 rockets at Israel, of which 450 to 500 fell short, causing casualties in Gaza, the BBC reported.
But Dr. Sobeh said rockets fired by Palestine are no match to those fired by Israel. “When a rocket is fired from Palestine, 100 rockets is fired back by the Israeli,” she posited while making it clear that she is not in favour of the war or the loss of life on any side but the lives of Palestinians must be respected.
“We cannot remain silent,” she said. “I urge all of you to take our voice and run with it, and let the world know what kind of massacre, what kind of genocide is taking place in Jerusalem, in West Bank….We need our voice to be heard, we need the international community to urge the United Nations, to urge Israel, to urge the occupier to stop attacking our people,” she told the press.
Dr. Sobeh said the conflict erupted over attempts to force Palestinians out of Sheikh Jarrah in breach of Article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits forcible transfer of populations. “Sheikh Jarrah is a neighbourhood in Jerusalem where many families are being evicted and their homes demolished by the Israeli Force and the Israeli Occupation where they are throwing against the wall all international law and threatening them with a forced displacement,” the Palestinian Ambassador explained.
The US, the EU and other powers have called for an end to the conflict but to no avail.
