Seven Israeli prisoners were killed in a bombing of Gaza

Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki said that the Palestinian Authority hopes to reach a ceasefire agreement in Gaza before the month of Ramadan, criticizing the position of the West that “does not care” about the lives of the Palestinian people.

Al-Maliki stressed, in a press conference on the sidelines of the third Antalya Diplomatic Forum held in the city of Antalya in southern Turkey, that declaring a ceasefire before the month of Ramadan is very important. He added: “Not only because Ramadan is a holy month, but because we see more and more innocent Palestinians being killed and injured day after day. If we really want to save lives, we must take immediate action.”

Netanyahu’s position

Al-Maliki explained that the ceasefire will not happen in isolation from the release of the hostages, and that this is an international vision that is being adhered to at the expense of the Palestinian victims, adding: “We are still optimistic about reaching a ceasefire, even though the information coming from Israel shows that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is not concerned, and obstructs the matter.”

Al-Maliki stressed that the one who will rule Gaza after the war is the Palestinian Authority, saying: “The one who will rule Gaza is us, the Palestinian administration. This is certain and beyond doubt.”

Regarding Netanyahu’s statements regarding the future administration in Gaza, Al-Maliki said: “Who cares about Netanyahu? Netanyahu is an occupier and has no political or legal weight. He says this only to undermine these discourses. “Their words don’t matter and I ignored them. You should ignore them like me.”

Al-Maliki criticized the position of Western countries towards the events in Gaza, saying that these countries do not view the Palestinians as human beings, because they may not care about the lives of the Palestinian people, or they may see that the lives of the Palestinians are less important than the lives of others.

He added: “From day one, Israel has been trying to strip the Palestinians of their humanity in order to simply kill them. It seems that the West still lives in this world, they act accordingly. Unfortunately, they were unable to get rid of their ugly past. As a result, they judge us from this perspective.”

He continued that this is truly sad, pointing out that “the reality is that killing Palestinians and destroying hospitals, shelter centers, schools, churches and mosques is a normal thing… They have thus changed the rules of the world… Israel is happy about this.” The West is complicit by remaining silent or supporting the Israeli narrative of what happened in Gaza.”

Al-Maliki considered what was achieved in the Moscow meetings, which were held on Thursday in the presence of representatives of Palestinian factions, most notably Fatah, Hamas, and Islamic Jihad, to be very important, as he resolved the basic problem that faced the Palestinians in previous talks, noting that the basic issue that was agreed upon was the approval of… Everyone is united by the representation of the Palestinian people, which is the Liberation Organization.

He added: “We want a government that deals with the existing challenges and with the international community, and we are trying as much as possible to reach consensus on a technocratic government whose authority will be the Palestinian president.”

He pointed out that the coming period will witness more internal Palestinian dialogues regarding access to elections, noting that “conditions are favorable for internal agreement, and we see a responsibility from everyone.”

The factions gathered in Moscow confirmed that they would continue to work to achieve “comprehensive national unity” within the framework of the Palestine Liberation Organization.

Contact committee meeting

The contact committee emanating from the Riyadh Arab-Islamic Summit held a meeting on the sidelines of the Antalya Forum, with the participation of the Foreign Ministers of Turkey Hakan Fidan, Egypt Sameh Shukri, and Palestine Riyad Al-Maliki.

Fidan stressed during the meeting that Israel’s actions constitute war crimes and lead to the destabilization of the global order, pointing out that the Islamic world has been waiting for others to solve its problems for many years, stressing that this situation must change.

Fidan said that the dominant powers were the ones who created this problem, adding: “Now we are taking the reins into our own hands, and we are truly undertaking this task with regional responsibility. As a result of this type of thinking, the contact group was formed at the joint summit between the Organization of the Islamic Conference and the Arab League, and it is working to assume responsibility.” The ongoing war in Palestine.

He continued that the contact group is constantly putting pressure on countries that support Israel and its attacks with the aim of increasing humanitarian aid and supporting the ceasefire on the part of Western countries, the number of which he said is still small.

Fidan pointed out that the “yes” vote in the United Nations sessions on the humanitarian ceasefire in Gaza rose from 121 votes last October to 153 after that.

Fidan said that the current war does not provide security for Israel, stressing the Palestinians’ need for security and self-defense, pointing out that there is another obstacle, which is that international calls for a ceasefire and calls for a two-state solution have no impact on Israel, which enjoys the support of the United States, nor face penalties.

Fidan stressed that Israel will not be safe unless it declares that it does not want to seize Palestinian lands, and “it is important to go to the 1967 borders, and only then will the people of Israel achieve truly sustainable security.”

He pointed out that Egypt has always been at the heart of the Gaza issue, and that its role in international humanitarian aid is admirable.

For his part, Egyptian Foreign Minister Shukri stressed the need to reach a permanent solution to the Israeli attacks on Gaza, noting that they had caused “a severe state of instability and insecurity in the region.”

He pointed out that there are difficulties in the passage of aid from Rafah due to the Israeli attacks, and efforts have been made to keep the crossing open from the beginning, and Egypt is also working to persuade the Israeli government to provide support to the residents of Gaza.

Shukri added, “Our efforts were always hampered, and there was manipulation and restrictions, especially with regard to the amount of aid that could be distributed, and there is very great pressure on our brothers in Gaza.”

Shukri stressed Egypt’s refusal to liquidate the Palestinian issue and plans to empty Gaza of its residents by sending them to Egypt and Jordan.

In turn, Al-Maliki pointed out Israel’s clear intention to continue its attacks, recalling its goals of “destroying Hamas and returning the prisoners,” but he clarified that it was not close to achieving these two goals.

He added that Israel insists on continuing this war. Because it also has some secret, undeclared goals, indicating that some of these goals may be within reach, and one of them is the complete destruction of Gaza, that is, the destruction of everything in Gaza.

Holding Netanyahu accountable

In the same context, Turkey has confidence that Netanyahu and all members of his government will be held accountable to justice sooner or later for their ongoing crimes against the people of Gaza.

Turkish Foreign Ministry spokesman Oncu Kaçali said in a statement on his account on the “X” platform, “Turkey is closely following the case filed against Israel in the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide.”

He added, in response to accusations published recently by Israeli Foreign Minister Israel Katz regarding a meeting between Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of the Hamas political bureau, Ismail Haniyeh: “We believe that all members of the Israeli government will be held accountable before justice sooner or later for the crimes they commit in Gaza.” …The Israeli government must put an end to the random, systematic and deliberate massacre of the people of Gaza.”

Katz wrote on “X”: “The President of Turkey, the country that carried out the Armenian genocide and believed that the world would remain silent about it, is proud today because he handed over to the Hague Court the materials accusing Israel of committing genocide.”

“We heard you,” he added. We have not forgotten the Armenian Holocaust and the massacres committed by Türkiye against the Kurds. You are the real perpetrators of genocide,” he said, adding, “We are defending ourselves from your barbarian friends.”