KINGSTON: The Jamaica government has said that it took the decision to recognize the State of Palestine amid deep concerns over Israel’s war on the Gaza Strip and the “ever-deepening humanitarian crisis” in the region.
In a statement, the country’s ministry of foreign affairs said that the decision is aligned with Jamaica’s strong pledge to the principles of the Charter of the UN, which seek to engender mutual respect and peaceful co-existence among nations, as well as the acknowledgement of the right of people to self-determination.
Arab media reported that Jamaica’s Foreign Minister Kamina Johnson Smith said her nation wanted to see “a peaceful resolution of the Palestinian- Israeli conflict through talks rather than military means. Earlier, the UN called for an international probe into reports of mass graves discovered at two Gaza hospitals that were completely destroyed by Israeli troops during sieges, saying war crimes may have been carried out. The UN rights office stated it was “horrified” by the huge destruction of Gaza’s Al-Shifa Hospital, and its second-largest, the Nasser Medical Complex in Khan Younis.
According to the Palestinian territory’s Civil Defence agency, health workers exhumed more than 200 bodies at the Nasser hospital, where Israeli military conducted operations earlier. On the other hand, the World Health Organization (WHO) said in April that Al-Shifa Hospital had been turned to debris by Israeli siege tactics, leaving behind an “empty shell” housing various bodies.
