'World accused of failing Palestinians, forcing solo attacks'

KUALA TERENGGANU - The world has been accused of failing to address the longstanding global issue of the Palestinian-Israeli conflict effectively forcing the Palestinian people who have been struggling without any external assistance, to react and launch solo attacks.

Amanah International Bureau head Datuk Raja Kamarul Bahrin Shah Raja Ahmad said the situation had compelled the Palestinian people, who had been struggling without any external help, to react and launch solo attacks.

He said Israel's approach to Arab countries such as Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in terms of economics and diplomacy was a "kiss of death" to the Palestinian struggle because it would further isolate them and marginalise them in the struggle to survive.

"I believe Israel's 'diplomatic' move to establish friendly relations with nearby Arab-Muslim countries is an old strategy to divide and conquer the unity of Arab-Muslim countries to distance themselves from the suffering of the Palestinian people while Israel continues to oppress them.

"Despite their closeness to their Arab Palestinian neighbours, illegal Jewish settlements continue to be built on Palestinian land, Palestinian homes continue to be destroyed, and incursions into Al-Aqsa Mosque, the holy place of Muslims, continue to occur more frequently," he said in a statement here today.

According to Raja Bahrin, diplomacy between Arab countries and Israel has led to the neglect of Palestinian issues, and they are slowly being forgotten in the new Middle East landscape shaped by Israel and the United States.

"The Palestinian struggle is too important and significant to be ignored with the hope that it will disappear and be forgotten after nearly 70 years of Israeli occupation.

"However, Israel continues to seize Palestinian land, demolish their homes, and kill those who oppose this injustice. The West views the Palestinian people's uprising against this oppression as an act of violence and not self-defence.

"Atrocities and apartheid are happening in their own homeland, yet the world and their Arab neighbours are only 'watching,' and even their fellow Muslims continue to ignore and marginalise them.

"I believe that a major new conflict may occur as their isolation and frustration grow.

"My prediction came true when the Palestinian people rose up when Hamas and Islamic Jihad decided to launch a deep attack on Israel," he said.

According to Raja Bahrin, all parties are responsible for the events that have occurred.

"We cannot claim not to be responsible for the long suffering of our brothers and sisters and the ongoing bloodshed. Now the whole world is seen to have failed to address Palestinian issues, and a tragic situation has befallen them," he said.

Earlier, Al-Quds Liberation Fighters and Al-Qassam Brigade fighters declared a retaliatory attack on the Israeli regime's invasion of Palestine.

In a statement, the Anti-Military and Al-Qassam Brigade chief Muhammad Al-Deif, said Israel had ignored the warnings given, resulting in the desecration of the Al-Aqsa Mosque's sanctity and the killing of hundreds of Palestinians.

In a related development, the Zionist regime's military was reported to have shot dead six Palestinians, including a 13-year-old boy, in the West Bank.

The killings occurred as Hamas, which controls the Gaza Strip, fired 5,000 rockets at Israel on Saturday, marking the largest attack on the rogue state in several years.

According to the Palestinian Health Ministry two of the victims, Mahmoud Bassem Akhmis and Youssef Nader Suleiman Idris, were shot with live ammunition during the Israeli military's incursion into al-Khalil (Hebron).