Palestine delegate: We appreciate Egypt’s efforts to hold the international conference on the reconstruction of Gaza

Ambassador Muhannad Al-Alakouk, Palestine’s representative to the League of Arab States, confirmed that Israel committed a crime, which is full-fledged genocide, against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip over a period of more than two years, in which more than 250,000 Palestinian citizens were killed, including martyrs, wounded and missing, in addition to the destruction of about 85% of the Gaza Strip’s buildings and infrastructure. This came during his speech at the 74th session At the level of the Arab Transport Ministers Council, which was held in the Manara Hall in the Presidency of Kuwait. 

Al-Alouk pointed out that only a quarter of a million Palestinian citizens are the direct victims of genocide, while the indirect victims are hundreds of thousands of others who died or were exposed to very deep health, psychological, and material damage, due to Israel’s deliberate destruction of the health, relief, and educational system, and the prevention of food and medicine. And infant formula, and the destruction of water, sewage, and transportation networks.

Israel has turned the humanitarian aid mechanism into death traps, and used starvation as a weapon of genocide, killing 421 Palestinian civilians, including 113 children, who are among the 20,000 children killed during the genocide. In the occupied West Bank, Israel is still taking aggressive annexation steps and drafting invalid legislation to this end, and is contemplating the policy of illegal colonial settlement. Including the E1 project, which undermines the geographical contiguity of the Palestinian Territory.

He explained that Israel will continue its policy of systematic destruction of refugee camps and the displacement of their people, and the establishment of hundreds of new military barriers to reinforce the apartheid regime. The occupation army protects the terrorist settlers who attack safe houses, kill civilians, and burn farms and property.

He pointed out that in occupied Jerusalem, Israel is escalating settlement policies, demolishing homes, deporting and restricting Jerusalemites, and closing UNRWA headquarters and schools, which leads to thousands of refugees being deprived of basic services. Israel continues to provoke the feelings of Muslims around the world, through daily incursions into the blessed Al-Aqsa Mosque.

He said that the destruction of the components of the Palestinian people was not a random criminal act, but rather a systematic targeting of the components of life. The siege has led to a deadly physical reality, and in this context, the Palestinian government’s plan for relief and early recovery indicates that approximately 80%  Of the road network in the Gaza Strip, it was completely or partially damaged, and more than 85% of service and public vehicles were broken down, including ambulances, emergency vehicles, and commercial transport, which caused an almost complete paralysis of the humanitarian movement and supply system.

He explained that the Gaza Recovery, Reconstruction and Development Plan, which is the Arab-Islamic plan adopted by the Palestine Summit held in Cairo on March 4, was damaged. 2025, and supported by the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, that the transportation and communications sector in Gaza needs $2.9 billion to rebuild it again.

The Palestinian government’s plan for relief and early recovery also estimates that the urgent financial needs to rehabilitate the transportation and communications sector during the first six months only, at about 153  One million US dollars, which is equivalent to approximately 20% of the total cost of rehabilitating basic infrastructure during that period. 

He stressed that reopening roads, removing rubble, and restarting transportation means are an urgent humanitarian necessity to ensure access to food, water, and medicine, facilitate the work of hospitals, and support the return of economic and social life in Gaza. Your consensus to allocate a permanent item to support Palestine at the top of the Council’s agenda represents an essential step in Arab solidarity, and our professional duty in the Arab transport sector is inseparable from our moral and political duty. Hence, implementing what the Transport and Communications Council decides to support the reconstruction of the transport infrastructure in Gaza is not only a humanitarian necessity, but an authentic Arab commitment to ensure the steadfastness of our people in the face of genocide, and to enable them to restore their normal lives.

Ambassador Al-Alakouk carried  Israel bears criminal, material and moral responsibility for its crimes against the Palestinian people. Until the occupation criminals are held accountable and Israel is obligated to pay compensation, we look forward to Arab and international support to rehabilitate the main roads and internal transportation networks in the Gaza Strip and connect them to population and economic centres, and to rehabilitate and restart the land crossings that Israel closed, ensuring the freedom of movement of citizens and goods, as well as supporting the operation and maintenance of the only Palestinian aircraft, to enable Palestinian Airlines to perform its role in connecting Palestine. With its Arab and regional depth.

He said that reconstructing the Gaza Strip, enhancing our people’s ability to endure and live, and regaining their freedom, is not only a path of technical engineering or logistical treatment, but rather it is part of the path of ending the illegal Israeli occupation, removing its effects, and achieving peace, security, and stability. 

He continued: We value the efforts you are making  Egypt led  President Abdel Fattah El-Sisi, in preparation for hosting the international conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip, scheduled to be held at the end of November of this year, which represents a pivotal stage for launching an organized and transparent process for reconstruction, based on an accurate assessment of needs. We urge friendly and peace-loving countries to actively participate in this conference, as it constitutes a strategic opportunity to unify efforts and direct resources towards rehabilitating basic infrastructure, including the transportation sector, and strengthening the ability of our people to live, withstand, and restore the cycle of life. He added: During its presidency of the thirty-seventh session of the Council of Arab Ministers of Transport, along with the sister Arab countries, and with the support and close follow-up of the General Secretariat of the League of Arab States, the State of Palestine worked to activate the Council’s decisions and enhance joint Arab action in the fields of digital transport, logistical transport, and railway transport, while launching efforts aimed at establishing the Arab electronic platform for transport, and modernizing the legal and regulatory system for Arab transport, to keep pace with global developments and support Arab integration, as well as The State of Palestine ratified the Arab agreements related to transport, which contributed to bringing some of them into force. This included:

Ratification of the agreement regulating the transport of goods by land between Arab countries.

Ratification of the agreement on the transport of passengers by road between Arab countries.

Ratification, as the second country, of an agreement on the agreement regulating transit transport. 

In conclusion, as I address on behalf of the State of Palestine, the leadership and government And the people, with thanks to every country, organization or institution that extends a helping hand to our people and our cause, assuring you that Palestine will remain an active member and committed partner in everything that serves Arab integration, transport, development and Arab unity. 

• For more: Follow Khaleejion 24 Arabic, Khaleejion 24 English, Khaleejion 24 Live, and for social media follow us on Facebook and Related