The Secretary-General of the Arab League called on Monday for an “immediate cessation of military operations” in the Gaza Strip and the establishment of humanitarian “corridors” to help the population, on the tenth day of the war between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement that left thousands dead.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit announced, during the meeting of Arab justice ministers in Baghdad, “We demand the immediate cessation of military operations and the opening of safe passages to help the population, transfer basic equipment, and rescue the wounded.”
Since October 7, Hamas’ surprise attack on Israel and the Israeli army’s retaliatory bombing of Gaza have killed thousands and displaced a million people on both sides.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had confirmed shortly before Mr. Aboul Gheit’s statements that “there is no ceasefire” at this stage between Israel and Hamas.
More than a million people fled the northern Gaza Strip in terror, while Israel on Monday continued to mobilize its forces on the outskirts of the Strip in preparation for a possible ground attack against Hamas.
Mr. Aboul Gheit continued: “The occupation army (the Israeli army, editor’s note) announced from the beginning that neither food, water, nor fuel could be brought into Gaza, depriving the Palestinians of their humanity and paving the way for ethnic cleansing.” .
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said that there is an “unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe” taking place in the Gaza Strip.
Ahmed Aboul Gheit and the head of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, warned on Sunday that the ground attack that the Israeli army appears to be preparing for “may lead to genocide of unprecedented proportions.”
