ADDIS ABABA, Saturday, February 17, 2024 (WAFA) - Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh met on Friday with his Tunisian counterpart, Ahmed Hachani, in Ethiopia's capital, Addis Ababa, on the sidelines of his participation in the 37th Ordinary Session of the Assembly of the African Union.
The meeting was attended by Palestine’s Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Riyad Al-Malki, the Palestinian Ambassador to Ethiopia, Fares al-Qub, the Palestinian Government`s Spokesperson, Ibrahim Melhem and the Tunisian Foreign Minister, Nabil Ammar.
The Prime Minister briefed his Tunisian counterpart on the repercussions of the ongoing Israeli occupation's aggression against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
Shtayyeh stressed that the priority now is to stop the aggression against the Palestinian people in light of the mass casualties in the Gaza Strip, including over 28,000 people killed, around 68,000 others injured and at least 9,000 reported missing, in addition to the unprecedented destruction.
He added that the second priority is to open the crossings with Gaza, bring in aid that should be tailored to the urgent needs of its population and restore water and electricity there immediately.
The Prime Minister also briefed his Tunisian counterpart on the political efforts led by President Mahmoud Abbas and the political initiatives and ideas put forward to create a political path that leads to a just solution to the Palestinian issue.
Shtayyeh said efforts are being exerted to prevent new Israeli massacres from taking place in Rafah, in the southern Strip, after the occupation forced most of the Strip’s population to flee to the city, calling for an Arab and international effort to prevent Israel from launching such an attack.
He added that Israel seeks to embody the Zionist dream that described Palestine as "A land without a people", but the Palestinian people thwarted all attempts aimed at their forced displacement and will continue to thwart any new attempts.
The Prime Minister stressed that the aggression Israel is waging against the Gaza Strip is coupled with continuous aggression against cities, towns, villages and refugee camps in the West Bank through daily military incursions, destruction of infrastructure, detentions and killings.
Israel is also waging a war on money through large illegal and unjust deductions from our tax funds, which have caused the inability of the government to fulfill its obligations, he added.
For his part, the Tunisian Prime Minister affirmed his country's continued support for Palestine, its people and their struggle for freedom and the embodiment of their independent and sovereign state, with Jerusalem as its capital.
Shtayyeh arrived this evening in Addis Ababa to attend tomorrow’s meetings of the 37th African Summit, where he is scheduled to deliver a speech on behalf of the President of the State of Palestine, Mahmoud Abbas.
T.R.
