MANAMA: Mahmood Rafique, Editor: His Royal Highness Prince Salman bin Hamad Al Khalifa, the Crown Prince and the Prime Minister said that two-state solution with a viable and secured Palestinian state is the only way forward to end an 80-year-old conflict in the Middle East.
HRH Prince Salman, in his keynote address at the global security summit IISS Manama Dialogues 2023 which opens on Friday, has condemned Hamas for carrying out indiscriminate attacks on Israel killing women, children and elderly.
HRH also condemned excessive military force by Israel and barrage of air attacks on Gaza which left 11,000 Palestinians dead with over 4,700 children.
HRH in his opening speech presented a blueprint to address the decades old conflict saying that the hegemonistic approach of powerful states should be checked and not let it become a norm to attack the weak state at their own free. “Diplomacy and international law should remain basic tools to resolve inter-state issues on the world stage as the military or use of force will never help to achieve peace,” HRH emphasized.
“Many speeches have been given on the subject as have the honour to present Bahrain’s point of view at the Islamic conference in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.
The situation in Gaza, HRH said, is deplorable with no running water, no sewage, no internet, no health facilities, and the lack of security as you never know that you may wake up next morning. and this is intolerable situation, and we should do everything in power to stop this escalation.
“The redlines for both sides are very important with no terrorism from Gaza in future and no forced displacements of Palestinians now and ever, there must no reduction in Gaza strip, no occupation of Palestinian lands,” HRH said.
“This is our obligation to protect innocent lives, for example in Islam it is our duty and a moral responsibility as stated in the Quran which says that killing of an innocent is killing of all mankind and in Abraham’s saying that saving a life is like saving all mankind.
“Our condemnations must be for both sides, I condemn Hamas unequivocally at and I stand with the innocent civilians. The attacks of October 7th were horrific and indiscriminate attacked civilians in Israel and that should not be condoned.
Similarly, HRH said, I condemned air campaign of Israel which left 11,000 dead in Gaza among them were 4,700 children and we urgently need to break this cycle, two most important things we should do is to encourage both sides for swap release the hostages, principally women, children and civilians and that would help to address the deficit of trust and also pave the way for a ceasefire.
HRH stressed upon the need to enforce the International Law and stop the trend of imposing the will of powerful state n on the weak states.
We must ensure the availability of food, incubators, and other civic amenities of Gazans.
Highlighting the future for Palestinians, HRH quoting President Mahmoud Abbas of Palestinian Authority, urged to hold a fair and free elections that can deliver hope and prosperity.
The worrying concern, HRH added, as Russian invasion of Afghanistan created Al Qaeda, invasion of Iraq has brought ISIS, and failing to this crisis one would imagine yet another challenge to deal with especially in the age of social media.
HRH Prince Salman, who envisaged the IISS as a platform about two decades ago, applauded the International Institute of Strategic Studies (IISS) as a distinguished platform to deliberate upon the strategic issues serve as vital pillars to the region’s security.
