Palestinian suffering “is 75 years old” and “did not start on October 7,” Palestinian Authority (PA) Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh said Thursday at an international humanitarian conference for Gaza in Paris.
“We are a victim here… defending oneself doesn’t mean occupying someone’s land,” Shtayyeh said, adding that “what Israel is doing is not a war against Hamas” but a war against “all Palestinian people.”
Israel has been ramping up its offensive inside Gaza, following the October 7 attacks by Hamas, when militants killed 1,400 people in Israel and kidnapped more than 200.
Shtayyeh also accused Israel of being “in clear breach of international humanitarian law,” saying that “crimes are being perpetrated against the Palestinian people, people who are innocent.”
The Palestinian official added that “a blockage” – Israel’s complete siege of Gaza – has created problems, including food shortages and attempts at deportation against Gazans working in Israel.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Türk said Wednesday that both Hamas and Israel have committed war crimes since the war broke out last month.
Israel’s military pushed back against those accusations, saying it has struck Hamas targets, followed international law and sought to minimize civilian casualties.
During the Paris conference, Shtayyeh also called for an end to the conflict in order for “humanitarian relief to make sense.”
“What use is offering a meal to someone who will die the next day?” he said.
-CNN