The Palestine Solidarity Campaign has staged a sit-in at the UK parliament in support of a ceasefire in Gaza.
Though the group welcomed the temporary truce in Gaza, it said that the pause in fighting “is not a solution.”
“We won’t stray from our demands,” the group posted on X.
“We demand a permanent Ceasefire now and an end to the siege of Gaza and Israeli Apartheid,” it added.
Meanwhile, Hamas political bureau member, Mousa Abu Marzouk divulged to a news agency that the truce is expected to start at 10am (08:00 GMT) on Thursday, November 23, 2023.
Marzouk said that the pause in fighting would cover “all regions the of Gaza Strip”, adding that “there will be no warplanes or air traffic in Gaza from 10am to 4pm.”
The Arab-Islamic Ministerial Committee also welcomed the truce agreement but emphasized that the deal should be extended from its current four-day status to a total cessation of hostilities.
This came as the delegation, comprised of representatives from Arab league and Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), were in London for talks with the foreign secretary, David Cameron.
They are slated to meet French President, Emmanuel Macron, later on Wednesday. They have already been to Beijing and Moscow.
They told a media briefing in London that the agreement should ultimately lead to the resumption of discussions around a two-state solution.
The Saudi Foreign Minister, Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud, urged that humanitarian aid should be sustained and not become contingent on the release of further captives.
He said, “It is absolutely necessary. It is in our opinion that we transition from temporary to an extended ceasefire, and go from there.”
He said if the west rejected the appeals of 2 billion people in the Middle East that would be a significant message, adding the UN had a choice in either containing Israel or being complicit in war crimes.
“Whatever humanitarian access now increases as a result of this hostage deal must remain in place and must be built upon.
“There must, at no point, be a reduction in this access based on progress for further release of hostages. Punishing the civilian population of Gaza for the holding of those hostages is absolutely not acceptable.”
Faisal bin Farhan Al-Saud
Moreover, the Arab and Islamic foreign ministers stated that the western powers on the UN security council face a choice of either demanding Israel lift its stranglehold on humanitarian aid into Gaza or standing complicit in Israel war crimes and collective punishment.
The ministers conveyed a broader political message to western capitals that, unless they do more to restrain Israel, a new generation of radicals will be born.
One foreign minister said that Israel was trying to create the conditions for a slow enforced migration from Gaza, saying, “We are near to a point of no return and the west has to wake up to what Israel is planning.”
The Egyptian foreign minister, Sameh Shoukry, said the proposed UN humanitarian resolution would require Israel to follow procedures allowed at Syrian border crossings, where UN agencies check the aid inside convoys, rather than give Israel total control.
He said “the unspoken objective” of Israel was complete displacement from Gaza.
He added that Israel’s plan was to funnel Palestinians into a small safe area in southern Gaza which is a prelude to a mass transfer out of Gaza.
The Jordanian foreign minister, Ayman Safadi, said there was a huge gap between the 200 trucks a day to be allowed over the Rafah crossing under the agreement and the 800 a day needed.
The Indonesian foreign minister, Retno Marsudi, said Israel was systematically breaking the laws of war, and many were tired of the lectures from the west about international law.
READ ALSO: Israeli Minister Calls Israel-Hamas Truce A “Dangerous Precedent”
