The Minister of Foreign Affairs, Yusuf Tuggar, on Monday. stated that a lasting solution needed to be found to the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas.
Tuggar made this request at the joint extraordinary Arab and Islamic Summit in Riyadh, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, where he called for member states to work together to attain this aim.
The Crown Prince and Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, Prince Mohammed bin Salman bin Abdulaziz Al Saud, presided over the Summit, which was attended by leaders, heads of government, and heads of delegations from member states of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation and the League of Arab States.
Israel has been relentlessly bombarding the Gaza Strip since Hamas fighters carried out an October 7 attack on southern Israeli communities, the deadliest in the country’s history.
About 1,200 people, mostly civilians, were killed in the Hamas attacks and around 240 people were taken captive, according to Israeli officials.
More than 11,200 people, most of them civilians and thousands of them children have been killed in Gaza in retaliatory strikes by Israel, according to the health ministry in the Hamas-run territory.
Tuggarsaid Nigeria was in support of the two-state pact issued by the UN as a realistic solution to the end of the crisis
“Nigeria welcomes the intervention by the IOC and the Arab League to emphatically add its voice for a call to the end of violence and loss of lives of innocent citizens.”
“We must work collectively to bring an end to the violence and find a lasting solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict based on the UN-prescribed two-state solution,” he said.
“Nigeria stands firmly by this.”
The Foreign Affairs minister bemoaned the onslaught on the Gaza Strip indicating it did not affect Hamas
“We meet under tragic circumstances when sustained attacks on the Gaza Strip have led to the senseless loss of human lives continue to threaten the lives of innocent civilians and have created a humanitarian disaster.”
“The question we have to ask ourselves is where is the evidence that the violence meted out by Israel on Gaza is having any deleterious effect on Hamas’ he said.
The two organizations in the resolution adopted by the joint summit underscored the centrality of the Palestinian cause and their support with all their capabilities for the legitimate struggle of the Palestinian people to liberate all their occupied territories and the need to end the Israeli aggression against the Palestinian people and to separate Gaza from the West Bank, including Al Quds Al Sharif.
The resolution affirmed that Israel and all the states in the region will never enjoy security and peace unless Palestinians enjoy them and reclaim all their usurped rights.
The resolution contained political, legal, and humanitarian steps, including breaking the siege on Gaza, ensuring the entry of Arab, Islamic, and international humanitarian aid convoys, and supporting Egypt’s efforts to deliver aid to the Strip in an immediate, sustainable, and sufficient manner.