Thursday 5th Dec 2024
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Israel Must Return Lands, End Illegal Occupation of Palestine: President-Elect Dr Muizzu

President-Elect Dr. Mohamed Muizzu has issued a compelling call for an immediate cessation of the Israeli occupation of Palestine, urging the return of all lands seized from Palestinians. In a recent tweet, President-Elect Dr. Muizzu also pressed Israel for full recognition of Palestine as an independent state within the boundaries of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its rightful capital, and the repatriation of Palestinian refugees.
The President-Elect also described the ongoing Israeli occupation as "illegal".
These declarations by the President-Elect come amidst a volatile situation marked by the outbreak of hostilities between the State of Israel and the Palestinian population. The State of Israel has officially declared a state of war following a military operation conducted by Hamas within Israel's borders. This operation followed a series of tragic incidents involving the loss of Palestinian civilian lives at the hands of the Israeli military.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has stated that the State of Israel is now in a state of "war" and has called for the mobilization of the Israeli military, particularly against Gaza, a Palestinian enclave within Israel. Human rights organizations have long decried the conditions in Gaza, often describing it as an "open-air prison" and citing it as an example of Israeli "apartheid."

Hamas, the governing body in Gaza, initiated a military operation against the State of Israel in response to the killings of several Palestinian civilians by both the Israeli military and Israeli settlers, who have been operating under the protection of the military over recent months. Tragically, the ongoing hostilities have resulted in an estimated 200 Palestinian casualties as Israel responds to Hamas' attacks.

The reference to the 1967 borders pertains to the borders that were in place before the Six-Day War of 1967, serving as a significant point of contention in the ongoing Israeli-Palestinian conflict.