Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, urged the European Union to intensify its efforts toward achieving an immediate ceasefire and guaranteeing the sustainable delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, WAFA News reports.
She made these statements during the fifth EU-Southern Neighborhood Ministerial Meeting held in Brussels, chaired by the EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy and attended by foreign ministers from Mediterranean Arab countries and EU Member States.
Shahin praised the EU’s ongoing support for the Palestinian people and government, particularly its assistance in state-building, reform, development, and efforts to achieve a just peace based on a two-state solution.
She stressed that the principles of international law and international humanitarian law are being violated before our eyes, eroding the rules-based international order.
The Minister of Foreign Affairs added that for 57 years, the Palestinian people have endured an illegal settler-colonial, apartheid occupation, denying them freedom, justice, and self-determination. “Today, we are witnessing what can only be described as a genocide in Gaza, where my people are suffering relentless onslaught aimed at ethnically cleansing the Palestinian people.”
She stressed that starvation is being weaponized, and civilians are being killed while queuing for aid. “Aid must never be used as a tool to deepen the suffering of our people.”
The Minister also addressed the alarming situation in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which has been fragmented by more than 900 military checkpoints. She highlighted the ongoing Israeli aggression, particularly in the northern areas of the West Bank and its refugee camps, which has resulted in widespread destruction. Meanwhile, she said, Jerusalem and its holy sites are being subjected to the most extreme forms of annexation and Judaization, with massive colonial settlement blocs further severing the city from its Palestinian surroundings.
