Somali minister calls for cease-fire, end to massacre in Gaza

By Faruk Hanedar

ISTANBUL (AA) - Somali Information, Culture, and Tourism Minister Daud Aweis Jama on Tuesday called for a "cease-fire as well as an end to Israel’s massacre against the Palestinian people."

"I believe what is being done to the Palestinian people is inhumane," Jama told Anadolu in Istanbul where he came to attend the Extraordinary Meeting of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) Information Ministers hosted by the Türkiye’s Communications Directorate.

Jama said that Somalia has always stood by the OIC member countries, condemning the atrocities perpetrated by Israel against the Palestinian people.

"Since October, the massacre has been continuing without any intervention. The main theme bringing us here today is to condemn the misinformation spread by the media while reporting on what is happening to the Palestinian people," Jama noted.

"We want the Palestinian people to live freely. We call for the establishment of a Palestinian state on the basis of the 1967 borders. Thus, we can have the two-state solution that we have long advocated for,” he said.

Jama expressed his belief that the only solution to the problems of the Palestinian people is “the establishment of their own state."

Speaking on the relations between Türkiye and Somalia, Jama said: "The Defense and Economic Cooperation Framework Agreement signed between the two countries is a historic one."

"The two countries have good relations, which date back many years," he said.

Jama underlined that the said agreement would elevate the relations to a different level and would be very beneficial to both countries.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing more than 29,700 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The conflict has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while most of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice, which in 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.

Tel Aviv now plans a ground offensive in the southern city of Rafah, where 1.4 million people have taken refuge.

*Writing by Zehra Nur Duz​​​​​​​