RIYADH: Saudi Arabia has strongly condemned an attack by Israeli settlers on a Jordanian humanitarian aid convoy that was heading to the besieged Gaza Strip on Tuesday, in the second incident of its kind in less than a week.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement that said “the repetition of these attacks is a result of the failure of the Israeli occupation forces to carry out their responsibilities under international humanitarian law and is considered systematic complicity in preventing the necessary humanitarian aid from reaching the Gaza Strip.”
The Kingdom called on the international community to take all necessary measures to hold Israel accountable for its violations of international law and international humanitarian law.
It also urged it to assume its responsibility to protect and secure the crossing of aid convoys, and to ensure their arrival into the Palestinian enclave to contribute to alleviating the humanitarian crisis there, the ministry statement added.
Jordan also condemned the attack and Foreign Ministry spokesperson Sufyan Qudah said: “Israel is responsible for the settler attack on the aid convoys.”
Qudah stressed that the Israeli government’s failure to stop the attacks was a violation of its legal obligations, the Jordan News Agency reported.
Qudah added that the aid convoy, run by the Jordan Hashemite Charity Organization, was attacked by Israeli settlers on its way to the Beit Hanoun Crossing, also known as the Erez Crossing, in northern Gaza, adding that “its cargo was tampered with.”
He said that the convoy later managed to continue its journey despite the attack and reached its destination in war-ravaged Gaza.
Kuwait also condemned the assaults by Israeli settlers and affirmed its position calling for the international community to assume its responsibility by deploring these attacks so that they may be avoided.
The Kuwaiti foreign ministry said this would aim “to guarantee the sustainable delivery of these aid convoys to the Palestinian people in order to curb the ongoing humanitarian catastrophe in the Strip caused by ongoing” Israeli attacks.
