…Says it is a dark stage in human history
From Aidoghie Paulinus, Abuja
Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, Abdullah Shawesh, has said that Israel is terrorising Palestine in the ongoing conflict in Gaza.
Speaking with journalists in Abuja, Shawesh recalled the United Nations Secretary General, Antonio Guterres’ statement on November 6, 2024, that: “the nightmare in Gaza is more than a humanitarian crisis, it’s the crisis of humanity.”
Shawesh also recalled a statement by the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF), saying that “Gaza has become a graveyard for thousands of children. It’s a living hell for everyone else.”
The Palestinian envoy further said the conflict in Gaza is not a war, but a text book genocide conducted before the screens all around the world.
“It is now over a month since Israel, the occupying Power, has declared its war against the defenseless Palestinian civilians, whom it is obliged to protect, under international law. It continues terrorizing them, with relentless bombardment, day and night, targeting them, their homes, infrastructure, water reserves, bakeries, mosques, churches, hospitals, ambulances, and schools, all while depriving the entire population from all their basic needs for survival,” Shawesh said.
Speaking further, Shawesh said it was a very dangerous stage where Palestinians have become used to counting the numbers of the slaughtered people, home destructions, injuries, and so on and so forth, without any emotional feeling towards the victims.
“This mean that the people got used to hearing this routine base news and it became worthless as human being. It is really a dark stage in the human history. That being said, unfortunately I have no other option except to start by providing some statistical updates,” Shawesh also said.
Giving the figures of the casualties recorded in Gaza, Shawesh said the death toll among the Palestinians in Gaza exceeded 10,500, even as he disclosed that 4,800 were children and 2550 were women, while the injured were 24,808.
He added that 2,660 were still missing under the rubble, amongst them were 1270, while 48 press correspondents were killed in Gaza strip, and 163 Palestinians killed in West Bank.
“According to the UN, 70 percent of the Palestinian people became internally displaced persons. All these are not mere numbers, they are shattered dreams, hopes and aspirations. One hundred and ten health facilities targeted, 16 hospitals out of service
“Israel has not stopped threatening hospitals and calling to evacuate it for the purpose of bombing and demolishing it, claiming that the hospitals are refuges and shelters for military groups leaders. Israeli propaganda has no basis in truth at all and comes only from the long-declared Israeli goal of evacuating Gaza. The destruction of universities, hospitals, schools, churches, mosques and all other infrastructure makes Gaza an unlivable area, which will push people to leave even after this war comes to its end,” Shawesh further said.
The envoy also stated that in the occupied West Bank, the situation is not less bad, where the Palestinians death toll is at 163.
“The militant settler’s gangs with the full political support from the Israel minister’s cabinet and full protection by the Israel Occupation Army patrolling the villages, terrorizing the defenseless people, burning their fruit trees, destroying their properties and cutting the main roads between the cities. The Israeli Occupation Force established tens of check points and blocked main villages entrance.
“The number of the Palestinians arrested since October 7th reaches 2,200. One thousand and thirty-four subjected to administrative detention orders. Fifty-five women and 145 minors, all of them subjected to torture and inhumation treatments, three of them were killed in the Israel prisons,” Shawesh stated.
