RAMALLAH, Sunday, November 5, 2023(WAFA) - Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad al-Malki, called on the European Union (EU) to demand a ceasefire in Gaza and to put a stop to the ongoing Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Malki stressed the necessity of allowing the entry of relief medical aid and fuel and restoring power and water to the Strip.

During a meeting in Ramallah with European Union envoy to the Middle East peace process, Sven Koopmans, Malki expressed dismay at Israel’s justification that its brutal aggression against the besieged Gaza Strip is self-defense.

“Targeting innocent civilians deliberately is not self-defense, but rather a retaliation war and vengeance,” he said, stressing that these crimes which are classified as war crimes and crimes against humanity, ethnic cleansing, genocide, and forced displacement, cannot be tolerated, particularly in light of Israel’s total disregard for international law.

He said that this Israeli aggression leaves innocents killed, the majority of whom are children and women, and thousands injured, in addition to the displacements of hundreds of thousands in light of the power outage and the cutting off of water supply to the Strip, especially after Israeli warplanes shelled the main public water tank in Gaza last night, aggravated by running out of fuel needed to operate hospitals in Gaza, which will cause the health status in Gaza to collapse.

He stressed that the situation is worsened by the repeated Israeli targeting of several hospitals and their vicinities, and the ongoing threats to shell them.

T.R.