Oman at emergency session of Arab League
The Sultanate of Oman, represented by the Foreign Ministry, participated in an emergency session of the Council of the League of Arab States at ministerial level, at the headquarters of the League of Arab States in Cairo, to discuss developments in the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The Sultanate of Oman’s delegation to the meeting was headed by Sheikh Khalifa Alharthy, Foreign Ministry Undersecretary for Political Affairs.
In its speech, the Sultanate of Oman emphasised the seriousness of the painful events to which the Palestinian people are exposed, as the result of “a brutal war waged by the Israeli occupation forces on the Gaza Strip, which is claiming the lives of innocent children, women and the elderly, as well as bloody bombing that is hitting places of worship and destroying infrastructure and services in many places, causing the displacement of tens of thousands of innocent Palestinian citizens.”
Oman said that this bloody Israeli aggression constitutes a blatant violation of the laws, customs and principles of international law, abandoning the simplest concepts of humanity amid racist statements and practices that amount to war crimes. It said these crimes from the officials of the Israeli government were being witnessed and reported by the world. These Israeli crimes against the Palestinians included killing innocents, as well as the Israeli government's practices of demolishing residents’ homes, the expansion of settlements, its continued provocations against the sanctity of the Blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque and the Holy Dome in Holy Jerusalem, its continuation of policies of annexation of the occupied Palestinian territories and the imposition of unjust sieges and walls on Palestinian cities.
These crimes, Oman said, were a major and expected cause of the state of escalation that the world sees today and an inevitable result of the lack of any prospects or hope for a solution. A just politician would end this injustice against the Palestinian people to alleviate the effects and harsh conditions that the Israeli occupation government has inflicted on the Palestinian people.
The Sultanate of Oman added: “What is happening in Gaza and the rest of Palestine – during this time of dangerous war and escalating violence, in which blood has been shed – will inevitably lead, if it continues, to a frightening scene that may affect the region and extend to regions in the world, as a result of expected reactions.”
Oman called for the international community to embark on an “urgent and serious effort” to protect the Palestinian people, reduce this escalation and give a “glimmer of hope” to this people under occupation so that their painful suffering, which has continued for seven decades, will end. This will not be possible, it added, except by ending the Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories and establishing an independent, fully sovereign Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, along the borders of June 4th, 1967.
The meeting issued a resolution calling for immediate confirmation of stopping the Israeli war on the Gaza Strip and condemning the killing of civilians.
The resolution called for the lifting of the siege on the Gaza Strip, facilitating the entry of humanitarian aid, and urged support for the Palestinian Authority politically, economically and financially.
The delegation accompanying the Political Undersecretary included Ambassador Abdullah bin Nasser Al Rahbi, Oman's Ambassador to the Arab Republic of Egypt and its permanent representative to the League of Arab States; Minister Plenipotentiary Sheikh Faisal Al Marhoon, Head of the Foreign Ministry's Arab Department, and a number of those concerned from the Ministry.