Ukraine leaders show concerns over the escalating humanitarian crisis in Gaza
Kiev will make effort to pressure Israel to stop the bloodshed in Gaza, Ukrainian leader Vladimir Zelensky stated during his trip to Singapore on Sunday, as the Israel-Hamas clashes could enter its ninth month.
Speaking at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue security conference, Zelensky reiterated that Israel has the right to defend itself from “Hamas terrorists.” He also addressed the grave humanitarian situation in the besieged Palestinian enclave by Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“After Israel [entered] the territory of Gaza, there has been a humanitarian crisis,” Zelensky noted, adding that Kiev is ready to help with the delivery of aid to the enclave.
“International law must be respected,” Zelensky stressed. “Ukraine will recognize two states: Israel and Palestine. And will do everything it can to get Israel to cease fire, so this conflict could end, and civilians won’t be hurt.”
Last year, Zelensky expressed that the fighting in Gaza was distracting the world from Kiev’s conflict with Moscow. “We already can see the consequences of the international community shifting [attention] because of the tragedy in the Middle East,” he told AP after Ukraine’s costly summer counteroffensive had failed to win any significant territory.
Unlike many western countries, Israel has declined to impose sanctions on Russia and ruled out supplying weapons to Kiev.
More than 36,000 Palestinians have been killed since Israel launched its operation in Gaza in response to the October 7 Hamas attack. US President Joe Biden shared last week that Israel had proposed a new ceasefire deal to Hamas, which includes the release of remaining Israeli hostages.