Speech by the Prime Minister at the beginning of Cabinet Session No. 229

The 38th day of the aggression against our people in Gaza:

We are struggling in all international circles to stop the aggression, and to secure the delivery of food and medicine to all areas of the Gaza Strip, especially the north, and we are doing everything possible to save our people there.

We reject the establishment of temporary camps for the displaced, as the Israeli army requests from international organizations. We want our people to return to their homes from which they were displaced. In the history of Palestine, there is no such thing as “temporary,” as experience has taught us that the temporary is permanent.

It is unfortunate that some countries still call for Israel's right to defend itself. The aggressor has no right to self-defense. Occupying others' lands is not self-defense. We are the victims, and we are the ones who have the right to self-defense.

I call on the United Nations and the European Union to parachute aid into the Gaza Strip, especially the north, as happened in various experiences in the world. We ask that relief corridors be opened to Gaza and not be limited to the Rafah crossing only.

On behalf of the Council of Ministers, I call for the immediate implementation of the decisions of the Arab League, especially those related to relief, the delivery of aid, and challenging the occupation authorities. It is unthinkable that thousands of tons of aid are accumulating while people are hungry, the sick are without medicine, and the wounded are dying one after the other.

It has been proposed by some countries to establish a water corridor between Cyprus and Gaza. We want aid to arrive, but we do not accept the displacement of our people on ships for deportation under the name of aid.

I say to the Israeli Prime Minister, who opposes the return of authority to Gaza and wants to maintain the occupation for a long time, that his policy will bring calamity on them. The Gaza Strip is part of the land of Palestine that was occupied in 1967, and we do not need anyone’s permission to help our people there.

Whoever supplies Israel with weapons now is an accomplice to the aggression against the blood of children, women and innocent people of our people.

Regarding the money that Israel deducted from the clearing, I say that there is an intense international effort and pressure on the occupying state to release our money, and I realize that people need their salaries, but none of us accept stopping aid, treatment, education, medicines, water and electricity bills, and the salaries that we pay to our people in Gaza. Our money and we dispose of it according to the requirements of serving our people and their rights wherever they are. International pressure is focused, and I hope that it will produce the desired results.

A few days ago, I participated in a meeting in Paris dedicated to providing relief to our people in Gaza. We requested that aid be directed through the Palestinian Red Crescent and the institutions operating in the Gaza Strip, including the United Nations. I hope that the role of the United Nations will be effective in delivering aid and mobilizing the remaining needs.

Israel has made Al-Shifa Hospital the symbol of its control over Gaza, as if it were a military barracks, where the hospital contains wounded and sick people. Whatever the justification, bombing hospitals, cutting off electricity from them, and preventing fuel and oil from reaching them can only be considered a war crime according to international humanitarian law.

That Israel makes Al-Shifa Hospital the capital of Gaza, and its fall means the fall of Gaza, is nothing but a justification for killing the wounded, the sick, doctors, and paramedics.

This Cabinet session is dedicated to continuing to help our people in Gaza, removing injustice against them, and stopping this unjust aggression against them.