GAZA, (PIC)
The Secretary-General of the Palestinian National Initiative, Dr. Mustafa Barghouti, has reiterated his call on Arab and Islamic countries to implement the initiative he proposed to break the siege on the Gaza Strip. This would be done by sending fifty-seven trucks carrying the flags of these countries and entering them through the Rafah crossing, over which Israel has no legal right to impose a siege.
Barghouti affirmed in media statements on Wednesday that if international humanitarian organizations invite Arab and Islamic countries to participate in this convoy, they will participate and embarrass Israel, which will not be able to bomb or stop such a convoy.
Barghouti said, “Today, we face a real famine, and countries can undertake such an initiative because it is more urgent today. Countries must challenge Israel, which has no right to close the crossing.”
He stressed that “Israel has reached a level of audacity where it attacks anyone who raises their voice in defense of justice. They attacked the Brazilian president, attacked the World Health Organization, and attacked Guterres.”
Who are Palestine’s friends?
Barghouti said, “This battle has caused a significant sorting to know who are Palestine’s friends and who are its enemies, who supported it and who betrayed it!”
He added, “It is unfortunate that Gaza is surrounded by four Arab countries, none of which can bring in food, medicine, or water to the Strip!”
Barghouti emphasized that the World Food Program must exert pressure on countries to bring food to Gaza and avoid the impending famine in the enclave.
Calls to implement the initiative
Political and media elites have called for the necessity of implementing such an initiative in light of the suffocating siege that has led to a real famine in the Gaza Strip. This situation requires urgent action of this kind to embarrass Israel and challenge it.
Palestinian journalist Khaled Safi said, “What prevents 57 Arab and Islamic countries from taking this step?”
He added that this is “an important initiative proposed by Dr. Mustafa Barghouti that deserves implementation.”
Safi continued, saying, “If those countries truly want to break the siege on Gaza and stop the genocide, let them go with a convoy of 57 trucks carrying their flags against Israel, which imposes an illegal siege on the Rafah crossing.”
Dr. Majdi Al-Afifi said, “I join my voice to the voice of the great thinker Dr. Mustafa Barghouti in that the 57 Islamic countries can provide assistance and support to the people of Palestine, despite the rejection of the barbaric Zionist entity.”
Al-Afifi pointed out, “If the rulers had a genuine will, away from the boring and repetitive rhetoric in conferences and statements, they would do it, but they do not want.”
For his part, Thamer Abdel-Jaber, the director of the World Food Program in the Palestinian territories, stated on Wednesday that “half a million people in Gaza are on the brink of famine.”
Abdel-Jaber added that “the war poses a great challenge for us to deliver aid, and we have not been able to perform our duties regularly despite the urgent need. We have witnessed tremendous and remarkable resilience among the people of Gaza.”
He pointed out that they are facing a critical crisis in the Gaza Strip, and it is necessary to overcome it and improve the security situation to deliver aid.
He affirmed that the Strip urgently needs a cessation of fire, and the northern areas are in dire need of humanitarian assistance to avoid a catastrophe.
The World Food Program announced on Tuesday a temporary suspension of food aid delivery to the northern Gaza Strip due to the insecurity of the area.
The Program’s announcement said that the plan was to send 10 trucks of food supplies daily for seven consecutive days, starting from Sunday, but the aid trucks faced gunfire.
He added that “a convoy of trucks was heading towards the city of Gaza on Sunday, surrounded by crowds of hungry people who tried to climb aboard the trucks near the Wadi Gaza checkpoint.
Since October last year, the Israeli occupation army has continued its aggression on the Gaza Strip with American and European support. Its warplanes bombarded the vicinity of hospitals, buildings, towers, and Palestinian civilian homes, destroying them above the heads of their residents, while also preventing the entry of water, food, medicine, and fuel.
The ongoing aggression by the Israeli occupation army on Gaza has resulted in the death of 29,313 citizens and the injury of 69,333 others, in addition to the displacement of more than 85% ,around 1.9 million people, of the population in the Gaza Strip, according to the authorities in the enclave, international organizations, and UN agencies.
