Hamas welcomes AU’s calls to end Israel’s ‘brutal war’ on Gaza

Hamas has welcomed the final statement issued by the 37th African Union Summit which called to “stop the [Israeli] aggression against the Palestinian people and the policy of collective punishment”, Quds Press reported.

In a statement issued yesterday, the movement said it hoped all African countries would translate the final statement into practical measures, to help stop the war and genocide being carried out against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.

Hamas also called for “severing all ties” with Israel and supporting the struggle of the Palestinian people until they achieve their legitimate national rights, most notably the establishment of a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital.

On Saturday, the 37th African Union Summit was held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa where they condemned Israel’s “brutal war and the use of excessive force against 2.2 million defenceless civilians in the Gaza Strip.”

The statement called on Tel Aviv to “comply with the decisions of the International Court of Justice and prevent the genocide in Gaza, as well as respond to international calls for a permanent ceasefire in the Strip,”

It also condemned Israel’s use of the policy of collective punishment against civilians in Gaza and attempts to forcefully transfer them to the Sinai Peninsula.

The statement called for “lifting the unjust siege imposed on Gaza and conducting an independent international investigation into Israel’s use of internationally banned weapons in its war in the Strip.

Read: Brazilian president likens the situation in Gaza to the Holocaust