By Ibrahim Hassan-Wuyo

The Palestinian Ambassador to Nigeria, HE Abdallah Abu Shawesh has said that
the total number of those killed since the beginning of the Hamas-Israeli war has reached 7028 Palestinians, 2913 of them children.

He said there were 281 unidentified, while around 20,000 civilians sustained various levels of injury and more than 1500 missing under the rubbles

Speaking at an interactive session with journalists and Civil Society Organizations in Kaduna, the Palestinian Envoy said that the number of internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip is about one million and four hundred thousand, who were displaced with other relatives.

“The war didn’t start October 7 as Israel and the occupation club would like everyone to believe, it started a long time ago, and on the day before, Friday October 6” “, Israel killed seven innocent Palestinian civilians in West Bank. All problem solving theory is steering towards tackling the roots of the problem, not to deal with its symptoms,” he said.

“This is exactly what the UN Secretary-General did when he said, what happened on October 7 doesn’t come from a vacuum. Since October 7 the Israeli occupation forces launched a wide and frenzy war against the Palestinian people in occupied Gaza Strip and West Bank, including East Jerusalem, in this regards here are some statistical figures that shed a bit of light on the unfolding crime of genocide.”

In his opening remarks at the interactive session, Sheikh Ahmad Gumi said India had donated 30 million dollars to the Palestinians and called on Nigeria to emulate the kind gesture.

The Islamic schlolar said there was no reason why the world power should not come to the aid of the Palestinians to stop Israel in the war, pointing out the conflict was far beyond religion but war against humanity.

Senator Shehu Sani said at the event that now was payback time for Nigeria and the rest of Africa to support Palestine in their trying moment. The former lawmaker recalled that Palestine had at different times supported African countries against colonialism.

Other Muslim and Christian leaders at the interactive session sued for unity among Nigerians and other people of the world “as the war between Israel and Palestine is not a religious one” .

The interactive session was graced by Pastor Yohanna Buru, Dr Nafiu Baba Ahmed of the
SupremeCouncilforShari’ahinNigeria(SCSN),Col. Sambo Hassan (rtd), Alhaji Balarabe, numerous NGOs and CSOs,among others.

According to the Ambassador of Palestine,
the total number of those killed since October 7t till the 26th reached 7028 Palestinians, 2913 of them children, 281 undefined, while around 20,000 civilians sustained various level of injuries and more than 15 hundred missing under the rubbles.

“The death toll in the occupied West Bank reached 104 and 900 sustained various level of injuries. 73 of the health workers were killed, while 100 injured. 12 hospitals and 32 health centers were out of service due to direct attacks or running out of fuel. 25 ambulances became out of services due to the Israeli attacks”.

“Some of the weapons used by the occupying power melts the skin of the people, and needs a special treatment that is not found in Gaza.Surgical operations were performed without anesthesia using the light of telephones, and the wounded were treated on the floors of the corridors.”

“Due to crowded hospitals, the lack of hygiene and clean drinking water, many diseases began to appear, such as smallpox, scabies, and diarrhea.The number of the internally displaced persons in the Gaza Strip is about one million and four hundred thousand, displaced with other relative families, United Nation schools, mosques, churches and other public places, the numbers still to increase. More than 181,000 housing units were damaged by the aggression, including more than 27,781 units completely destroyed.”

“In the occupied West Bank, the Israeli occupation forces executed 91 Palestinians since October 9th ,many of them are children. 6,500 Palestinian detained since the beginning of this year, among them 1,215 since October 7th. Mr. Omar Daraghmeh, 58 years, detained on October 5th and Arafat Yasser Hamdan, 25 years, detained on October 22, had been killed as a result of the torture they had been subjected to in the Israeli jails. The far right-wing extremist and racist Israeli Minister Itamar Ben Giver, began a massive campaign to distribute weapons to Jewish settlers in the West Bank, which will lead to more crimes against the Palestinians over there.”

“We strongly condemn the brazen and unjustified campaign launched by Israeli leaders and their Western supporters against the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, for telling the truth about what is happening in Gaza. This also falls within the policy of silencing, intimidation and terrorism that Istael pursues against everyone who criticizes its criminal behavior and demands the implementation of the International humanitarian law.”

“The moral duty of the media is to present and broadcast reality and the truth, but unfortunately this was not the case. The majority of the Western media participated in spreading the Israeli propaganda. The death toll among the Palestinian journalists reached 20.”

“Yesterday, the Israeli Air Force deliberately attacked Al Jazeera correspondent Wael Al-Dahdouh’ Shome and killed his wife and two of his child. I would like to remind you all that one and half years ago, the Israeli occupation army deliberately assassinated his colleague Shireen Abu Akleh in the occupied West Bank, this is another attempt from Israeli to stifle the voice of truth.”

“The Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory acknowledged the responsibility of the Israeli occupation army for the martyrdom of Palestinian journalist Sherine Abu Aqla.”

‘It is unfortunate that we have all witnessed and are still witnessing the unprecedented pilgrimage of some pro-Israel Western leaders to provide their full military and political support for the current genocide and use extremely unbalanced language in commenting on the currently ongoing war against the Palestinians, giving the Israeli occupation the green light to commit more massacres, this for sure will raise the number of innocent people to be killed on the upcoming days, and increase the mass destruction of the Palestinian homes and infrastructure, alongside the deepening-and enhancing Palestinian human suffering, especially among children and women.”

“It’s a wakeup call for all, since accepting the trampling of the international law, violating the UN Charter and turning their backs to the current massacres against the innocent Palestinian people, means that many countries might be on the line very soon. We all should remember that who is standing with the Israeli occupation today is the classical imperialism and colonialism that many of south countries suffered from, and they support them using the assets and wealth they have accumulated over decades of stealing from your countries.”

The Envoy said all human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights, adding that the.applicability of the international law should not be selective.

“Hypocrisy and double standards will only entrench the rift between the countries and inside the countries itself. The military solutions did not work in the past and will never ever work,” he said.