Kuwait demands immediate ceasefire in Gaza at NAM meeting
On Thursday, the State of Kuwait affirmed its position demanding an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the opening of the crossings for the arrival of humanitarian and relief aid in a manner appropriate to the scale of the tragedy in the Strip.
This came in Kuwait’s speech before the 19th Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement in Uganda, delivered by the Permanent Representative of the State of Kuwait to the United Nations and head of the Kuwaiti delegation to the meeting, Ambassador Tariq Al-Bannai, reports Al-Rai daily.
In his speech, Al-Bannai stressed Kuwait’s categorical rejection of any attempt to forcibly displace the Palestinian people outside their occupied land, adding, “The time has come and the paths have been cut off. We will not repeat what we have been saying over the past 56 years, and that the brutal and bloody bombing, killing and violence against the Palestinians. The occupation entity has no place in our world today, this has brought us to the point of no return.”
He reiterated that “there is no way forward except through complete and comprehensive peace through the resolutions of international legitimacy that have been approved and agreed upon, in addition to the Arab Peace Initiative of 2002, leading to the establishment of an independent, sovereign State of Palestine with East Jerusalem as its capital, on the borders of June 4, 1967.”
In this context, he expressed Kuwait’s welcome of the lawsuit filed by South Africa against the Israeli occupation before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing genocide against the Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, stressing that this is not strange to friends in South Africa, and recalling the words of the late Nelson Mandela, “We know very well. Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians.”
Al-Bannai recalled with pride the active role played by the Non-Aligned Movement over the past six decades since the formulation of the principles of the Bandung Conference, “and the challenges and obstacles the movement faced that make us more determined to achieve what we all aspire to.”
He added, “The State of Kuwait, as you have known it, will be inclusive, incubating and supportive of everything that will contribute to the advancement and prosperity of peoples around the world.”
He pointed out Kuwait’s commitment to the principles of the Non-Aligned Movement and standing seriously and clearly in the face of all blatant violations “which we are accustomed to seeing on a daily basis in the Palestinian territories without any deterrent to stop them and prevent them from occurring in the future.”
Al-Bannai affirmed Kuwait’s full support for the steadfastness of the Palestinian people and their resistance to the wanton war and brutal aggression by the Israeli occupation, and its use of its words and interventions in all forums and from various platforms and at all levels to highlight the grave crimes committed by the occupying power.
Uganda is scheduled to chair the 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement in light of its presidency of the Movement from 2024 to 2027 following the end of Azerbaijan’s presidency.
Ambassador Al-Bannai is representing the State of Kuwait at the Non-Aligned Summit on Jan 19 and 20, as well as the Third South Summit of the Group of 77 and China, which will be held on January 21 and 22.
