(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA))
Report by Nasser Al-Otaibi
KUWAIT, July 29 (KUNA) - Kuwait has been and continues to be a firm backer of the Palestinian people and their rights on the international stage, out of deep belief in the fairness of their cause and its importance for both the Arab and Muslim worlds.
This Kuwaiti stance has been renewed by His Highness the Amir, the then crown prince sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah during his participation in the Cairo Peace Summit in October 2023.
His Highness Sheikh Meshal stressed Kuwait's unequivocal rejection of Israeli Occupation officials call for forcibly evicting Palestinians out of their lands. He also urged the international community to shoulder its responsibility, provide protection for Palestinian civilians, and stop the occupation's devastating war on the Gaza Strip.
Kuwait also uses every regional and international platform to defend the Palestinian rights and call for ending the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the pre-June 5 1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital.
Delivering Kuwait's speech before a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East on July 17, Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Yahya renewed Kuwait's firm solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people, and support to their legitimate rights, topped with establishing their independent state and achieving a comprehensive and fair peace.
"This will lead to achieving security, stability and development in the region", Al-Yahya said.
Kuwait's top diplomat also condemned the Israeli massacres against Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
"Gaza has turned into a bleak landscape of destruction, with 40,000 deaths, mostly women and children. The total number of victims under the rubble is unknown," he regretted.
"Israel has turned schools into battlefields and hospitals into landscapes of pain and powerlessness".
Despite the efforts to end to these attacks, Israel continues to cut lives short without any distinction, he noted.
He went to say that the Israeli authorities are committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing.
Calling for unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance across Gaza, Al-Yahya underlined the essential role of UNRWA in supporting the Palestinian people in their darkest hour.
Al-Yahya further warned against double standards and expressed support for all initiatives to reach a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question.
He highlighted Israeli's continued criminal practices and violations of international law, referring to its unilateral decisions aiming to change the current legal and historic status of the occupied territories amid the failure of the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities.
On sidelines on his participation in the Jordan-hosted international conference for the urgent humanitarian response for Gaza as a Representative of His Highness the Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Yahya affirmed that Kuwait will remain a strong supporter to the Palestinian people and ready to do all in power to end their suffering.
"Kuwait will not hesitate to extend a helping hand to the brotherly Palestinian people and will continue to support them as they face injustice and aggression," Minister Al-Yahya said.
Kuwait Amir's Representative highlighted that Kuwait's governmental and popular campaigns to collect and provide aid to Palestinian people.
He pointed out that Kuwait, since the start of the Israeli offensive on Gaza, has launched an air-bridge through which 50 aircraft loaded with 1.3 million tons of humanitarian and relief aid were dispatched to the Gaza Strip.
Moreover, Kuwait has also organized 100-land and sea aid convoy loaded with relief supplies and shelter materials to Palestinian people during the same period, the Minister said.
He added that Kuwait has also sent medical teams to the Gaza Strip to help support the collapsing healthcare sector there.
"Kuwait acts out of principled and firm position supporting the Palestinian people and their legitimate rights," the Minister said.
He stated that Kuwait will always among the main defender of the Palestinian cause and the leading advocates for a just and comprehensive peace in accordance with the relevant UN resolutions to meet the legitimate aspirations of the Palestinian people, foremost of which is the establishment of their independent state on the borders of June 4, 1967.
Minister Al-Yahya emphasized that the international community needs to realize that stability could not be reached in the Middle East region before a just, lasting and final solution to the Palestinian cause.
He regretted that the people of Gaza have experienced unbearable suffering and reiterated Kuwait's condemnation of the Israeli occupation's insistence on obstructing the delivery of humanitarian aid, and on imposing a blockade and arbitrary measures at Gaza border crossings, which prevented the flow of sufficient vital supplies to the needy residents of the Gaza Strip and exacerbated the humanitarian crisis there.
He stressed the need for international efforts to formulate clear visions for ensuring unimpeded delivery to humanitarian aid in the Gaza Strip and to end to the Israeli occupation's blatant violations of international laws and guarantee the right of peoples to obtain humanitarian aid during conflicts.
On June 10, Kuwait's permanent representative to the UN Nasser Al-Hayen affirmed that Kuwait will continue to ratchet up aid for the Palestinians, which includes an annual sum worth USD 500,000 it provides the International Labor Organization.
As per the "instructions" of His Highness Kuwait's Amir Sheikh Meshal Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, Kuwait-based charities were quick to shore up urgent aid for the Palestinians, the diplomat said amid a gathering of international donors for the Palestinians, co-organized by Kuwait and Belgium.
Kuwait has already churned out some USD 112 million worth of urgent aid for the Palestinians since the Israeli war against the Gaza Strip began, he said, underlining that such assistance will continue unimpeded given the scope of their misery.
Speaking to the 112nd the International Labor Organization's (ILO) conference on June 6, Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Office and other International Organizations in Geneva Ambassador Nasser Al-Hayen told a special session on labor in occupied Arab lands that the current disastrous situation in the Gaza Strip should be addressed promptly to avoid further bloodshed.
The forced displacement of millions of Palestinians is heinous crime, which the Israeli occupation was solely responsible of, affirmed the Kuwaiti diplomat who did not fail to mention the apocalyptic scenes of destroyed infrastructures throughout Gaza.
The ILO's Impact of the war in Gaza on the labor market and livelihoods in the Occupied Palestinian Territory clearly showed the catastrophic humanitarian situation, which touched all Palestinians specifically laborers there, he added.
He revealed that the report suggested that over 200,000 Palestinians have lost their jobs, adding to the unending crimes committed by the Israeli occupiers.
Ambassador Al-Hayed insisted that the Israeli occupation had crossed all redlines and also violated all international laws and norms including the ILO's constitution.
He pointed out that preventing laborers from across occupied territories to move freely and seek work was another criminal act carried out by the Israeli aggressors.
While the world celebrated the International Workers' Day back on May 1, the occasion is marred by Israel's brutalization of Palestinian laborers causing them to lose job security, stability, and peace, affirmed Ambassador Al-Hayen.
The Kuwaiti diplomat welcomed article 177 of the ILO report that called for an immediate halt of the unjust war in the Gaza Strip and the end of occupation.
On May 26, The State of Kuwait on Sunday stressed its commitment to continue aid and humanitarian assistance to the people of Palestine, and also praised UNRWA's vital role to serve and help the Palestinians.
"I would like to take this opportunity to reaffirm Kuwait's commitment to humanitarian and relief aid to the Palestinian people," Kuwait's ambassador to Belgium and head of its missions to the European Union and NATO, Nawaf Al-Enezi, told an international meeting on Palestine in Brussels today.
He stressed that "UNRWA represents the backbone of the humanitarian response to Gaza, and plays a vital and indispensable role," and noted that Kuwait recently made a voluntary contribution in the amount of USD 30 million to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees.
Al-Enezi welcomed the recent decision by Norway, Spain, and Ireland to recognize the State of Palestine, and hoped that other countries will view similar decisions more favorably.
He "strongly welcomed" the International Court of Justice's latest decision ordering Israel to immediately stop its military operation in Rafah.
The Kuwaiti ambassador underlined the necessity to implement Security Council Resolution 2720 and allow the immediate delivery of humanitarian aid in a safe and unhindered manner and to create the necessary conditions for a ceasefire in Gaza.
Today's Ministerial International Partners Meeting on Palestine was chaired by the Minister of Foreign Affairs of Norway, Espen Barth Eide, and hosted by EU High Representative, Josep Borrell, with the participation of Mohammad Mustafa, the new Prime Minister of the Palestinian Authority.
In his statements to the press, Borrell said it is so important that we gather together to try to support the Palestinian Authority because these are extremely difficult times for the Palestinian people".
"The situation in Gaza is beyond words. The occupied West Bank is on a brink, risking to explode any time. And as we speak, Israeli military operations continue in and around Rafah," he said.
"And this happens against the verdict of the highest United Nations court - the International Court of Justice (ICJ) - that ordered Israel to halt the military operation in Rafah and to open the border crossing for humanitarian aid," said the EU foreign policy chief.
He stressed that "we must do everything in our powers: to reach an immediate end of the hostilities; to achieve the immediate release of all hostages; and to alleviate the humanitarian catastrophe unfolding in Gaza.
Referring to the West Bank, Borrell said, "There, we see an intensified spiral of violence, indiscriminate attacks by extremist settlers, who are more and more targeting humanitarian aid heading to Gaza".
Kuwait' ambassador Al-Enezi expressed his appreciation "for the detailed presentation made by His Excellency Prime Minister Mustafa, of his government's plans and substantial reform agenda in light of the economic, financial and security challenges facing the new Palestinian government".
Further, Norwegian foreign minister Espen Eide in his remarks to the press called for a ceasefire in Gaza and underlined that "there is no alternative in the long run to the two-state solution".
"We need to make sure that the Palestinian Authority will be able to survive and improve its service and plan for future return to Gaza," he said.
He called on the Israeli-occupation regime to transfer the Palestinian money which it collected on behalf of the PA and urged all donors to step up their financial support for Palestine.
In a related development, EU Foreign Affairs Ministers will have a discussion on the situation in the Middle East and will informally exchange with the Ministers of Foreign Affairs of Saudi Arabia, Jordan, Egypt, the United Arab Emirates, and Qatar, as well as the Secretary-General of the League of Arab States, in Brussels on Monday, noted an EU statement.
At the China-Arab States Cooperation Forum in Beijing on May 30, Kuwait Ambassador to China Jassem Al-Najem said the forum adopted three documents after discussion including "the Joint Statement on the Palestinian Issue". Kuwait's Permanent Representative at the Arab League Ambassador Talal Al-Mutairi said during his participation in the 96th session of the Liaison Officers of Arab Regional Offices on Boycott of Israel Occupation Conference that Kuwait will leading in calling for boycotting the Israeli entity and hosted a conference on this issue in 1958.
He added that Kuwait also opened an office for the Palestinian Liberation Organization on its land in 1964. (end) nmo
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