Regional Joint Statement: End Offensive on Gaza

In the past week, Israeli military forces have escalated their offensive on the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes have increasingly targeted houses, civilian-populated areas and civilian facilities in the Gaza strip. Israeli warplanes have destroyed a number of houses while their residents were inside, without any prior warnings, killing and wounding many Palestinian civilians.

The Israeli government has cynically exploited the killing of three Israeli youth and used this to whip up a racist hysteria against Palestinians and the Hamas government in Gaza. It has done this without producing any evidence about who was responsible for those killings. A campaign of indiscriminate violence against Palestinians has been incited and one Palestinian boy has been tortured and burnt to death. Now even more indiscriminate retribution has been inflicted on the civilian residents of Gaza. Collective punishment is a violation of international humanitarian law.

The ruthless military offensive conducted by Israeli forces has nothing to do with “self-defence”, but a genocidal aggression on Gaza and intensification of bloody repression against Palestinians who had been constantly denied their right to self-determination by the Zionist regime.

The undersigned organisations:

• Strongly condemn Israel’s latest attack on Gaza, Palestine and demand that it stop its attacks on Gaza and respect international law including the UN resolution 242 which demands Israel withdraw from the Gaza Strip, the West Bank and East Jerusalem, territories which Israel has illegally occupied since 1967.

• Call upon all governments to immediately withdraw their ambassadors from Israel, cut diplomatic ties and end all military and defence ties with Israel.

• Call for the intensification of the economic boycott, disinvestment and sanctions campaign against Israel.

Initiating signatories-

Socialist Alliance, Australia
Socialist Party of Malaysia (PSM), Malaysia
Partido Lakas ng Masa (PLM), Philippines
Socialist Aotearoa, New Zealand
Communist Party of India (Marxist-Leninist) Liberation
Partai Rakyat Pekerja (Working People Party), Indonesia
Socialist Alternative, Australia
Partai Rakyat Demokratik (PRD), Indonesia
Solidarity, Australia
Awami Workers Party, Pakistan
Fightback, Aotearoa/New Zealand

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