Palestinians will choose death over becoming refugees once again: Ambassador of Palestine Adnan Abu Al-Haija

Palestinians will choose death over refugee status, says Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Al-Haija says; Israeli bombing of Gaza has caused intense humanitarian crisis. India sent aid, but blockade hinders movement. West silent on destruction, Israeli PM seeks to kill all Palestinians.

Palestinians will choose death over becoming refugees in other countries despite the threat of Israeli bombing, said Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Al Haija here on Thursday. Speaking to The Hindu in an exclusive interview, Mr. Al Haija said the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) have not achieved any military objective by carrying out bombing raids over the Gaza Strip as no major leader of Hamas has been harmed in these attacks and urged India to call for an immediate ceasefire as an intense humanitarian crisis has engulfed Gaza after nineteen days of Israeli bombing. 

“Whatever may be the condition, we will not repeat the mistakes of 1967 and 1948 when Palestinians left home under Israeli attack. We will die if they carry out massacres but will not leave home this time. The remarks of the Jordanian king have already made it clear that the solution will not come by the removal of our population from home,” said Ambassador Al Haija.

India has maintained a careful position during the latest round of fighting that erupted on October 7 with the attack on Israeli targets by Hamas. PM Modi reached out to Israel by expressing solidarity with Israel in its fight against terrorism but at the same time, India also reiterated its support for the two-state solution which includes a Palestinian state that is expected to exist side by side with Israel.

India sent 6.5 tonnes of medical aid and 32 tonnes of disaster relief material for the Palestinians on October 22 through the Egyptian airbase of El Arish. The  Ambassador informed that the bombing by Israel is placing a hurdle on the movement of assistance to Gaza, informing that 1.1 million people out of the 2.2 million total population of Gaza has been displaced by the continuous bombardment that Israel has been carrying out.

“We thank India for sending humanitarian assistance. India took the initiative to send us assistance even though we had not asked for it. We are deeply thankful for the gesture. But there are thousands of tonnes of goods waiting in Egypt but till now only one hundred trucks have been able to enter Gaza as there is a shortage of truck fuel since that has to be supplied for the generators of hospitals,” said Mr. Al Haija. The envoy said he has been in contact with the Indian interlocutors and has briefed them about the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.

Mr. Al Haija painted a dismal condition of the health condition in the Gaza Strip and informed that the blockade imposed by Israel is denying entry to essential items and said that Gaza’s groundwater is being extracted by Israel to supply its communities in the Negev desert which has turned water into a weapon against Gaza.  “You can imagine 2.2 million people are without food, medicine, water, medicine and oxygen for twenty days. Gaza has 35 hospitals in all and they have run out of fuel that is necessary to run the facilities,” said Ambassador Al Haija. He made a stinging criticism of Israel for carrying out what he described as “ethnic cleansing” of the Palestinians from the Gaza Strip and the West Bank.   

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