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- Ελληνικά
In the context of the work of the 2nd Session 2024 of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe (PACE) in Strasbourg, the member of the Cypriot delegation to the PACE, Mr George Loucaides, spoke yesterday about the unstable situation in the Middle East and the need to prevent a humanitarian disaster in Gaza.
Citing a recent statement by the United Nations (UN) Secretary General (SG) that the war in Gaza is the deadliest of all the conflicts so far, Mr.Loucaides noted that the UN Secretary General has referred to Israel's collective punishment of the Palestinian people and its systematic violation of International Humanitarian Law. Responding to reports that Israel is taking care of the delivery of humanitarian aid, Mr. Loucaides again cited Mr. Gutiérrez who personally visited the Rafah crossing and saw with his own eyes Israel's obstruction of the delivery of aid, as queues of trucks were not allowed to enter Gaza.
Further, Mr. Loucaides, responding to allegations of those who cover up Israel's crimes, for alleged misinformation about what is happening in Gaza, again according to official reports of the UN Secretary General, pointed out that it is Israel that prohibits the entry of independent media representatives into the war zone while at the same time is responsible for the death of almost a hundred journalists, events that, according to Mr. Lukaidis said, demonstrating who fears the truth and promotes misinformation. He further noted that 196 members of humanitarian organizations, primarily the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and Doctors of the World, the World Central Kitchen and the Red Crescent have been killed, not by human error, the Cypriot MP stressed, but again in line with UN Secretary General's findings, as a result of Israel's military strategy and existing procedures leading to the repetition of fatal mistakes.
He also expressed his great disappointment at the attitude of the Council of Europe towards the genocide, he said, which has been taking place before the eyes of humanity for more than six months. He criticized the absence of any condemnation by the Organization with regard to the actions and ongoing atrocities committed by Israel, and deplored the Assembly's only resolution on the situation in Gaza last January, which calls for a ceasefire only on condition of the complete dismantling of Hamas, which in practice amounts to a call for the continuation of Israeli military operations against the Palestinians. Months of silence and tolerance, he argued, is in fact complicity in what is being committed. Finally, he called on the Council of Europe and the CSCE, an organisation that otherwise defends human rights, to reconsider their stance on this bloody conflict in the Middle East, pointing out that such defiant adherence to two measures and two stations undermines the credibility of the organisation itself.
(Text as sent from the House of Representatives)
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