RAMALLAH, August 13, 2025 (WAFA) – Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Varsen Aghabekian Shahin, said that Israel's decision to occupy and impose control over the Gaza Strip reveals that the war is being waged against Palestinian civilians, without any justification, and that its goal is to turn the Strip into an uninhabitable territory and forcefully displace its residents.
In a press briefing held on Wednesday, she added that occupying the entire Gaza Strip will deepen the humanitarian catastrophe in all its dimensions, perpetuate the use of starvation as a weapon of war, and cram two million citizens into an area that does not exceed 10% of the Gaza Strip's area. This is a direct recipe for displacement.
Shahin pointed out that Israel currently occupies more than 75% of the Gaza Strip, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is exploiting the hostage issue to prolong the war.
She stressed that the occupation of the Gaza Strip is part of an attempt to undermine the opportunity to establish a Palestinian state on the ground and to thwart international, popular, and official support for the rights of the Palestinian people and the successive recognitions of the State of Palestine.
Shahin emphasized that the Palestinian leadership's priority is a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and ensuring the entry of humanitarian aid.
She explained that the priority of halting the aggression falls within a comprehensive vision proposed by President Mahmoud Abbas and adopted by the Palestinian government that includes the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from the Gaza Strip, the State of Palestine assuming full responsibility for the Gaza Strip with Arab and international support, and working to develop a special plan for early recovery and reconstruction in cooperation with Arab and international parties.
The FM added that the President's vision includes "no role for Hamas in government, and that the movement will hand over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority security forces."
According to the vision presented by the minister, the atmosphere will then be conducive to updating the voter registry in preparation for the general elections announced by President Mahmoud Abbas.
The vision emphasizes the need to halt unilateral steps that violate international law, including colonial activity, annexation, settler violence, and attacks on Islamic and Christian holy sites, and to create the atmosphere for implementing the two-state solution according to the plan expected to emerge from the international peace conference on September 22.
Shahin announced that the government is continuing its political and diplomatic efforts to secure further recognition of the State of Palestine, in parallel with efforts on the international legal track, conducting dialogues and discussions with decision-making centers in countries and with components of the international community to stop the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation, and to urge the international community to assume its responsibilities in this regard and implement UN resolutions on the Palestinian issue, most notably the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice.
She welcomed the successive announcements by countries recognizing the State of Palestine, the most recent of which was Australia's announcement of its intention to recognize Palestine during the UN General Assembly next month.
Shahin stated that eight countries have confirmed their intention to recognize the State of Palestine: Britain, France, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, San Marino, Singapore, and Malta. She added that 10 countries are considered hesitant to make a similar decision, and that diplomatic efforts will be conducted with them in the period leading up to the UN General Assembly to confirm their position on recognition.
She stressed the importance of international recognition of Palestine, which can be built upon to protect the two-state solution and thwart Israeli plans aimed at undermining the possibility of a Palestinian state on the ground.
Shahin also noted that these recognitions bring the State of Palestine closer to achieving full membership in the United Nations, strengthening Palestine's international legal status as it moves toward its realization on the ground.
Regarding the United Nations Conference on on the Peaceful Settlement of Palestine & the Two-State Solution, held late last month in New York under the chairmanship of Saudi Arabia and France, the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates emphasized that it constituted an important international milestone on the path to mobilizing the broadest international consensus to halt the war on the Gaza Strip, provide relief to the Palestinian people, end the occupation, and establish the Palestinian state.
She announced that the Ministry had formed a specialized working group to develop the necessary plans and strategies to monitor the implementation of the conference outcomes and the declaration issued therein. The group is working alongside the Supreme Leadership Committee, which was formed for this purpose upon instructions from President Mahmoud Abbas.
Shahin explained that the Palestinian action plan in accordance with the New York Declaration includes a focus on urging countries to take practical steps to hold the occupying state accountable for its violations in accordance with international law.
Additionally, Palestinian ambassadors were mobilized to endorse the New York Declaration and its attached annex from the countries to which they are accredited, identify areas in which countries can contribute to implementing the conference outcomes, and clarify the nature of the support these countries can provide to Palestine in all areas.
According to Shaheen, the plan also includes international efforts to find mechanisms to release the clearance revenues withheld by Israel, or to obtain international funding equivalent to the withheld amounts.
She explained that the plan includes selecting a group of countries to form a peacekeeping and stability force (Egypt, Jordan, Turkey, Italy, Britain, France, and others), and preparing a draft resolution to be submitted to the UN Security Council inviting countries to contribute to that force.
The Palestinian action plan also includes working with Egypt and the United Nations to hold an international conference for recovery and reconstruction, working with Norway, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, and France to hold a donor conference for the Palestinian government during the UN General Assembly, and working with the Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee, France, and Saudi Arabia, to reach out to countries ready to recognize the State of Palestine, and with some influential countries to secure their recognition by early September.
She noted that work is underway to hold a meeting of the chairpersons of the UN conference on settling the Palestinian issue and implementing the two-state solution (Saudi Arabia and France), and the heads of the 17-country working groups early next month to prepare for a mini-summit and discuss the determinants of its success.
Shahin noted that, in accordance with the New York Conference Declaration and its annex, efforts will be made to unify Palestinian national institutions with those in the Gaza Strip, name a transitional committee to govern Gaza, and prepare a police team to assume duties in the Strip alongside the UN stabilization force.
She continued that work will continue on the reform process, which represents a national demand before it is an international one. Reports will be submitted to measure the impact of this on Palestinian institutions, focusing on inviting countries to review the social protection system and what has been achieved in this regard. She also emphasized that relevant countries will be informed of progress reports on developing Palestinian curricula and their impact on school textbooks based on national needs.
Shahin expressed her condemnation of the crime of targeting journalists committed by the occupation army in front of Al-Shifa Hospital west of Gaza City, which led to the killing of six journalists, joining the dozens of their colleagues who have were killed defending the truth of the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank, including Jerusalem.
The FM emphasized that targeting journalists is a crime against humanity punishable under international law and falls within the framework of the crimes of genocide, displacement, and annexation to which the people are subjected.
Shahin stressed the need for the international community to act to stop the war crime and crime against humanity posed by Israel's targeting of journalists, which has claimed the lives of approximately 240 journalists and media workers, far exceeding the number killed in longer wars, such as World War II, the Vietnam War, and the war between Russia and Ukraine.
She added that journalists are a treasure for Palestine, and targeting and killing them is part of the silencing of the truth.
K.T
