Maldives urges Muslim Ummah to do more to end Gazans' suffering

The Maldivian government urged the Muslim Ummah to do more to implement the call for a ceasefire in Gaza, guarantee the provision of urgent humanitarian aid, hold Israel accountable for its actions, and end the suffering to the Palestinian people.

Maldives made the appeal on Wednesday, in a statement delivered by Islamic Minister Dr. Mohamed Shaheem Ali Saeed at the 15th session of the Islamic Summit Conference in Banjul, Gambia.

Addressing the summit, organized by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), Shaheem said that the Muslim Ummah is grieving.

“Helpless for the past six months, as we continue to watch our brothers and sisters in Gaza being robbed of their lives, their rights, and their futures,” he said.

He said that the Palestinians have endured unimaginable suffering for decades; displacement, dispossession, and the denial of their most basic human rights.

“Their land has been occupied, their homes demolished, and their dreams shattered. Yet, amidst the rubble and the despair, their resilience remains unbroken,” he said.

Shaheem said that the scale at which Israeli forces are continuing to commit genocidal acts in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories are immeasurable.

“These unlawful and unjustifiable acts amount to apartheid,” he said.

Shaheem stressed that the horrifying level of destruction and suffering in Gaza did not happen in a vacuum, but is result of ignorance and inaction that still prevails.

Pointing out the mass protests across the world demanding a ceasefire, Shaheem expressed concern that it took the United Nations Security Council almost six months to call for one.

He said that while late, it is still a welcome step.

But he stressed that the global community simply cannot just call for a ceasefire and end it there.

“The genocidal war is still ongoing. The call for ceasefire needs to be implemented. The provision of adequate and urgent humanitarian aid needs to be guaranteed. We need to do more. To hold Israel accountable for its actions. To end the suffering of the Palestinians. And to bring peace to a region that has experienced too much conflict. This war needs to end now,” he said.

In February, Maldives delivered its oral submissions in support of Palestine on the legal consequences arising from Israel’s occupation of Palestine at the International Court of Justice.

Shaheem said that the country intends to file a declaration of intervention in the case concerning the application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.

He also reiterated Maldives’ full commitment to allowing full UN membership for the State of Palestine.

“We believe that Palestine’s full UN membership is the starting point towards an enduring peace in the region. It is not a cause for OIC. It is based on international norms, law and human rights. As leaders of Islamic nations, we must lead this call and champion this endeavor,” he said.

Shaheem said that the Maldives is committed to continue its fight for the Palestinian cause, even stronger and louder, and to realizing their inalienable rights, including their right to self-determination.

“We firmly believe that the only sustainable end to the conflict, and the best guarantor of peace in the region, would be the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.

Israel’s current war on Gaza has killed more than 34,600 Palestinians, and wounded nearly 78,000 more.

It has also reduced to rubble more than 70 percent of the Palestinian territory, and pushed pockets of the population into famine.