Arab states condemn massacre of Palestinians after US embassy move

RABAT - 14 May 2018: Moroccan King Mohammed VI expressed his great concern over the opening of the US Embassy in Al Quds (East Jerusalem), Maghreb Arabe Press quoted a message sent from the Moroccan king to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas as saying on Monday.

As the chairman of the Al Quds Committee of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), the Moroccan king said that he informed US President Donald Trump of the importance of Al Quds city to the Arabs and divine religions.

Changing the historical and legal status of the Palestinian city will plunge the Palestinian cause into the maze of religious conflicts, said the king.

He renewed his refusal of the US decision on Jerusalem, saying it is a unilateral action and violates the UN resolutions.

He will spare no effort to mobilize the international community and fulfill the rights of the Palestinian people to establish their independent state with Al Quds as its capital, the king reiterated.

The Arab League

The Arab League called for immediate and urgent international intervention to stop the massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip.

In press statements, Assistant Secretary-General of the Arab League for Palestine and Occupied Arab Territories Ambassador Said Abu Ali condemned Israeli occupation forces' oppression of the March of the Great Return protests in Gaza Strip and the West Bank, as well as the Israeli troops' assault on protesters participating in the march.

He held the Israeli government accountable for the consequences of this aggression against the Palestinians.

Jordan

The Jordanian Minister of State for Media Affairs Mohammed Momani on Monday condemned in the strongest terms the Israeli escalation against the Gaza Strip on Monday, which claimed the lives of several innocent Palestinians and led to the injury of hundreds of others, Jordanian Petra news agency reported.

Momani, who is also the Government Spokesperson, blamed Israel, as an occupying power, for the crime committed in the Gaza Strip on Monday.

He blasted Israel's use of excessive force against the defenseless Palestinian people, who took to the streets in thousands to express their right to return to their homeland in accordance with their legal, political and humanitarian rights guaranteed by international laws and conventions.

On the stalled peace process, he said the continued absence of prospects for a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue, which guarantees the right to freedom, dignity and a Palestinian state, will contribute to entrenching the environment of despair that generates violence.

He called for concerted efforts to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and to meet the rights of the Palestinian people on the basis of the two-state solution, which guarantees the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the lines of June 4, 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

On the Palestinian refugees, he also urged to find a solution to all final status issues, including the refugees' dilemma in accordance with the UN Resolution 194, and the Arab Peace Initiative, which both call for an agreed solution to the refugees problem.

As for Israel's belligerence, he noted Israel's use of excessive force in the face of unarmed demonstrators who exercise their legitimate right to protest against the occupation and demand their legitimate rights on the eve of the Nakba's 70th anniversary is another sign of the illegality of Israeli policies and the threat they pose to regional peace and security.

Ending the occupation and resolving the conflict on the basis of the two-state solution is the only way to achieve security and peace for all peoples in the region, the minister affirmed.

Momani urged the international community to assume its responsibilities to protect the Palestinian people from Israeli attacks that undermine peace efforts and push the region towards further violence and conflict.

Bahrain

Bahrain has deplored targeting Palestinian civilians by Israeli occupation forces, a move that left hundreds of Palestinians dead and wounded.

Bahrain's Foreign Ministry in a statement on Monday warned against the grave risks and negative repercussions of the Israeli escalation in the occupied Palestinian territories, Bahrain News Agency (BNA) reported.

The ministry voiced its full rejection of using force against the peaceful marches that the Palestinian people held to call for their rights.

It asserted Bahrain's firm stance in support of the legitimate rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, topped by their rights in establishing an independent state with Al Quds as its capital.