'Humanity is lost in Palestine', says Bangladeshi minister

By Faruk Hanedar

ISTANBUL (AA) – Despite the contradiction of narratives of the Gazan war, there is only one truth: "Humanity in Palestine is lost," said Bangladeshi minister of state for information and broadcasting on Thursday.

"There cannot be two different kinds of truth. There is only one, and it is very clear. That is, humanity was defeated in Palestine," Mohammad Arafat told Anadolu in the Turkish metropolis of Istanbul.

Noting that babies are being killed beyond religion, ethnicity, and country, he said there is "no respect for humanity there."

Despite the disinformation efforts, the whole world knows the truth, he said, urging countries to fight against Israel's "lies, fake news and misinformation."

Stressing that Israel committed "two atrocities" at the same time, he said: "One is bombing and killing, and the other is trying to show the world as if the victims are guilty by running a disinformation campaign through the media and social media.

Israel, which occupies Palestinian lands, uses all its power and tries to portray the victimized Palestinians as oppressors, he added.

"What about those who talk about human rights, democracy, freedom of expression, freedom of the press and try to lecture everyone about all these?" he said.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip following a Hamas attack on Oct. 7. The ensuing Israeli bombardment has killed more than 30,000 and injured over 70,000 with mass destruction and shortages of necessities.

Hamas, which is believed to be holding more than 130 Israeli hostages, demands an end to Israel's deadly offensive in return for any hostage deal with Tel Aviv.

The Israeli war has pushed 85% of Gaza's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.​​​​​​​

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

*Writing by Gozde Bayar