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The 31st Annual Session of the Parliamentary Assembly of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) continued yesterday in Bucharest. In her intervention in the Political and Security Committee, Ms Charalambidou stressed that she supported Israel's right to self-defence following the violent attacks by Hamas on 7 October. But since then, 10 months later, 36,000 deaths have been recorded, 2 million people are starving, Gaza has been flattened and the population displaced en masse. She noted that a number of Israeli hostages remain in the hands of Hamas, which has caused mass demonstrations in Israel, due to the widespread belief that the Israeli leadership is more interested in extending the war than in freeing the hostages.
Ms Charalambidou also stressed that Cyprus is affected by the developments and referred to the publication of maps of possible targets on the territory of Cyprus by Israeli media in an attempt to create a climate of tension.
She noted that a possible Israeli invasion of Lebanon would destabilize Lebanon and lead to its collapse, expand the conflict by involving other states and increase regional destabilization, thereby affecting the whole of Europe.
Ms. Charalambidou argued that international pressure should be exerted on the Israeli Prime Minister to end the conflict. She said that especially after the withdrawal of moderate forces from the Israeli government, the extension of the conflict into Lebanon is an attempt by the Israeli Prime Minister to remain in power in order not to face serious internal problems concerning himself. "Israel has every right to defend itself and defend its citizens. But what is happening is something completely different. It is finishing with Gaza and seeking new flashpoints of conflict with a serious risk of setting the entire region on fire."
In addition, Ms. Charalambidou chaired a meeting with members of delegations from small states, at which they exchanged views on the particular challenges they face in the area of preventing and fighting corruption. The importance of exchanging good practices among small states was underlined by all sides.
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