Palestinian National Council Chief Calls For Deployment Of International Forces To Protect Gazans

RAMALLAH/ISTANBUL, Oct 19 (Bernama-Anadolu) -- The Palestinian National Council president on Saturday urged the international community to take immediate action to deploy international forces in the Gaza Strip to protect Palestinian civilians, Anadolu Ajansi (AA) reported.

In a statement following an Israeli massacre against a Palestinian family, Rawhi Fattouh said the Israeli army on Friday targeted a civilian vehicle carrying 11 people in Gaza City’s Al-Zaytoun neighbourhood without warning after it crossed the so-called “yellow line.”

He said the massacre “is part of Israel’s ongoing policy of killing and destruction,” calling it “a crime and a reflection of the systematic policy the occupation follows against the Palestinian people.”

“This crime is not an isolated act but part of a continuous pattern of killing and destruction amid clear international inaction to hold the perpetrators accountable,” Fattouh said.

He held the Israeli government “fully responsible for this war crime against humanity” and called on the international community to “take immediate measures to deploy international forces to provide protection to the Palestinian people.”

Fattouh also called on the world powers and the United States (US) administration to “ensure the ceasefire holds and provide Palestinians with food, shelter, and medical care in line with the principles of justice and human rights.”

He said Israel’s justification for targeting the vehicle, claiming it neared the so-called “yellow line,” constitutes “a grave violation of international humanitarian law” and further evidence of Israel’s “disregard for human values and international conventions that prohibit attacks on civilians.”

The “yellow line” is an unofficial demarcation separating areas where Israeli forces are stationed from those where Palestinians are allowed to move within the Gaza Strip.

A ceasefire agreement between Hamas and Israel, brokered through regional and international mediation and implemented on Oct 10, stipulates a partial Israeli withdrawal from several areas in Gaza to new positions within the enclave known as the “yellow line.”

Since October 2023, Israeli attacks have killed nearly 68,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, and rendered it largely uninhabitable.

-- BERNAMA-ANADOLU