Gaza contact group to urge US, Canada for immediate ceasefire

ANKARA

The foreign ministers of seven prominent regional countries, including Turkish top diplomat Hakan Fidan, will visit the United States and Canada to urge them for an immediate ceasefire and uninterrupted flow of humanitarian aid into Gaza amid the intensified Israeli offensive against Hamas that has already killed more than 16,000 civilians in the enclave.

The Contact Group was established at a joint summit of the Organization of the Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League in Saudi Arabia in November upon Türkiye’s demand.

It consists of Türkiye, Palestine, Egypt, Indonesia, Qatar, Nigeria, Saudi Arabia and Jordan with the purpose of reaching a ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and launching a fresh attempt for a lasting solution on the basis of a two-state solution.

The foreign ministers of the Contact Group as well as the secretary-general of the Arab League will hold talks with United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken in Washington on Dec. 8 and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly in Ottawa on Dec. 9. The group had already visited China, Russia, the United Kingdom, France, Spain and held talks at the U.N. in New York.

The main message to be conveyed in Washington and Ottawa will be the need for an immediate ceasefire as the temporary humanitarian pause did not serve to reduce the tension and end the bloodshed.

The ministers will also press on the fact that the ultimate solution to the Israeli-Palestinian question is the establishment of an independent and sovereign State of Palestine on the basis of 1967 borders and east Jerusalem as its capital.

“Israel cannot provide security of its citizens by shedding more blood in Gaza. The security of Israel requires peace with Palestine,” the ministers will tell their counterparts in the U.S. and Canada.

The Western nations should also be more balanced and raise their voices against the increased massacres of the Israeli security against the civilians in Gaza, the ministers will warn, underlining that remaining silent in the face of this humanitarian tragedy will undermine international order and law.

The contact group will repeat its calls on the Western world to distance itself from Israel’s violation of human rights in order to not be an accomplice to the acts of war crimes.

They will also underline the fact that the prolongation of the armed conflict is jeopardizing the regional security and stability with risks of spreading the tension to the rest of the Middle East. “We want no more wars in the Middle East,” will be the message to this end.

According to the contact group, the international community is becoming more vocal on the violence committed against the Palestinian civilians and criticizing the Israeli government.

“This is rising the tension within the communities across the world. This can encourage the radical groups as there is an increase in attacks against Jews and Muslims,” the contact group stresses.

“Therefore, countries that have an influence on Israel should use it for the cessation of the conflict and making peace with Palestine. We should be able to discuss all sorts of means for peace following the end of the war. The mechanism of guarantors can be one of these means,” they suggest.