Norwegian premier says situation in Gaza ‘alarming, dramatic’ amid ‘barbaric’ Israeli war

Norwegian Prime Minister Jonas Gahr Store criticised Israel strongly on Monday, saying that the occupation state’s war in Gaza is “barbaric,” local media have reported. According to Anadolu, he also described the situation in Gaza as both “alarming and dramatic.”

Store emphasised the importance of adhering to international humanitarian law, which constitutes the principles between humanity and barbarism. “When these principles are broken, as in Gaza, we find ourselves in barbarism,” he told VG newspaper.

The premier’s comments come after a UN warning over the weekend that the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of death because of the ongoing brutal Israeli military offensive.

“When credible sources such as the UN, WHO [World Health Organisation], Red Cross, Red Crescent and health personnel we have known over the years send alarm messages, then it is serious,” he said. “It is alarming when we witness imminent starvation, death and disease among hundreds of thousands of vulnerable people in northern Gaza. And it is happening now, in our time. They [Palestinians] feel that nowhere is safe.”

The Norwegian prime minister will be travelling to Iceland on Monday to discuss the situation in Gaza with his Nordic prime ministerial colleagues, ahead of the Nordic Council which will be held on Tuesday, according to the newspaper.

Since Israel launched its war against the Palestinians in Gaza in October last year, nearly 43,000 Palestinians have been killed, most of them women and children, and 101,000 have been wounded. An estimated 11,000 are missing, presumed dead, under the rubble of their homes and other civilian infrastructure destroyed by Israel.

More than a year into the Israeli war, vast tracts of Gaza lie in ruins amid a crippling blockade of food, clean water and medicine. Israel stands accused of genocide against Palestinians at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), a charge that it denies.

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