NAIROBI – The Council of Arab Ambassadors to Kenya have called for the upholding of the Palestinian right to self-determination and a sovereign state along the pre-June 4, 1967 lines, with East Jerusalem as the capital.
Through a statement after a meeting at the Palestine Embassy in Nairobi on October 19, the envoys affirmed the importance of just and comprehensive lasting peace based on the two-states solution.
They termed the solution as a strategic option to protect the Middle East region and all its countries and people from wars and violence and the devastating repercussions.
On June 5, 1967, Israel occupied the rest of historic Palestine, including the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, East Jerusalem, the Syrian Golan Heights and the Egyptian Sinai Peninsula during the Six-Day War against a coalition of Arab armies.
The envoys also called for immediate cessation of hostilities, warning of the “catastrophic humanitarian and security consequences of the continuation and expansion of the escalation”.
“Based on the Council of Ministers’ Resolution No. 8987 by the Council of the League of Arab States…the Council of the Arab Ambassadors condemn all the violations of human dignity that the brotherly Palestinian people are subjected to under occupation, the aggression and violation of their rights they are currently exposed to,” the joint statement said.
On Tuesday, UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres said the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7 did not happen in a vacuum, noting that the Palestinian people have been subjected to 56 years of “suffocating occupation”.
“They have seen their land steadily devoured by settlements and plagued by violence; their economy stifled; their people displaced, and their homes demolished. Their hopes for a political solution to their plight have been vanishing,” Guterres told the meeting chaired by Brazil’s Foreign Minister Mauro Vieira.
He, however, noted that the grievances of the Palestinian people cannot justify the “appalling” attacks by Hamas, and those attacks cannot justify collective punishment for the Palestinians.
The Arab envoys also called for the lifting of the siege in Gaza, and immediate access of humanitarian support.
Additionally, they called for the reviving of the peace negotiations between the Palestinian Liberation Organization PLO and Israel to achieve a just, comprehensive and permanent peace.
“This unified declaration accentuates the unwavering support of the Arab diplomatic community for the Palestinian cause and the compelling need for global action to address the ongoing crisis in the region,” reads the statement.
