India friend of Palestine, Israel; hoping for positive role: Palestinian Ambassador to India Adnan Abu Alhaija

We are looking for a ceasefire as soon as possible. We are looking to stop the siege of Gaza. Humanitarian aid should reach people as soon as possible, especially medicines, oxygen, water, electricity and food.

We are working hard with all our friends to stop this war as soon as possible. Our President (Mahmoud Abbas) is working 24 hours a day. Some of our friends like Russia, China, Qatar, Egypt, Jordan and Turkey are working together to stop it.

What do you think of India’s response so far?

We have noticed the tweet of the Indian Prime Minister at the beginning, and later his phone call with Israeli PM (Benjamin) Netanyahu. We hope India will play a positive role with people who are working hard for a ceasefire, for breaking the siege of 2.2 million people living in Gaza. But the (attitude of) Indian people in general – what we notice from social media — has changed from the time this conflict started on October 7.

We are always looking to India to play a positive role, especially because it is a friend of both Palestine and Israel. Stability in West Asia is very important for India itself.

What role does Palestine expect the international community to play?

The Palestinian people are looking for a ceasefire and for breaking the siege of Gaza. But the international community is responsible for finding a political solution, and going back to what we signed 30 years ago – the Oslo Agreement, which says the Palestinian state should exist on the land of 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

We are fed up of war, of seeing our children killed, our youth jailed, our land confiscated by the settlers and occupying forces. I think it’s time for the world to do something. We have heard from some of them, but till now, we have not seen any pressure on the Israelis. The Palestinians should get their rights if they don’t want to see another war.

The plan of this apartheid regime is completely different from what the international law says. They are thinking of ethnic cleansing — to take the people from Gaza to Egypt, and from the West Bank to Jordan.

For us, as Palestinians, we suffered two mistakes in our lives. The first was in 1948, what we call Nakba or the catastrophe, when terrorist organisations committed many massacres helped by the British Army, and they created Israel on an area, 78 per cent of which was historically Palestine.

The second was in 1967, when Israel occupied the West Bank. Despite massacres, like the one in the hospital in Gaza, Palestinian people can’t leave their homeland. We have nowhere to go; we have only one land and we will die in our land.

After the hospital attack, do you think the understanding of the world may have shifted?

Yes, the majority, but they are criminals. First, they said we bombed (the hospital) because members of Hamas were there. Then they changed (their stand). Now, they say the rocket was from Islamic Jihad.

Now, if we look at the killing of journalist Shireen Abu Akleh, they have changed the story four times… This is Israel. The creation of Israel itself comes from lies. The truth is that Israel is a military base for the American and Western countries, and the normal Jewish people are victims like the Palestinian people.

(Joe) Biden himself said that if there is no Israel, they will create Israel. He said that Israel is the best investment for the US, at $3 billion a year. He said it would have cost much more if there was no Israel. That means it’s a military base, not a country.

I am sure there are nice Jewish people, and we are not against any Jew in the world. We are against the Zionists, against the occupation. We don’t fight the Jews because there are Palestinian Jews as well, and we used to live together in Palestine.

* Some Opposition leaders from India met you, what was the conversation about?

It was a lot of solidarity and understanding. They still have the traditional attitude of India towards the Palestinian cause, and they have their understanding about the apartheid regime of Israel and the occupation itself. They present their solidarity and they are also with the two-state solution.

Civilians on both sides are suffering. How can that be stopped?

We signed the Oslo Agreement 30 years ago, and we were expecting to have our independent state in 1999. Those who are leading Israel now are not looking for peace. They killed the Oslo Accord, and destroyed the two-state solution. When they came and invaded the Al Aqsa Mosque, there was the second Intifada… But the regime became popular and the Israeli society also became extreme. Now the majority, let’s say 60 per cent are extreme people, and the settlers are affecting the life of even the Israeli people.

Israel says about 200 people, including foreign nationals, have been taken hostage by the Hamas.

I heard from the Hamas spokesman that they will release all the civilians without any conditions. Some people captured were military and some were civilians. The Hamas said they will release all the civilians, but, because of the war, it’s not safe for them to release them just like that… They are waiting to check if any other parties also have civilian hostages (so as to) take them and release them.

There may be some foreigners, but the majority of Israelis have dual citizenship. If the person is a civilian, he/ she will be released; but if they are soldiers, I don’t think they will be released. Whatever his second country is, he is an Israeli now. If any country doesn’t want their nationals to be captured by the Hamas, let them tell them not to join forces with the Israeli Army.

We are against the killing of civilians, whether they are Palestinians or Israelis… The Israelis have never condemned the killing of Palestinian civilians. When someone talks about the Palestinian people as terrorists, the biggest terrorist is the occupation, not the people who are resisting for freedom.

What do you call the October 7 attack on Israeli territory by the Hamas?

You can’t take October 7 just as October 7, because of what’s going on in Gaza and in the West Bank — we are one people. The killings, arrests, confiscation of land, building settlements, and attacks on mosques have been going on for a long time. Since the beginning of this year, before October 7, they have killed 260 people in the West Bank… Sometimes, they come at 2 am to jail a 12-year-old; I still have the video.

They bomb schools, colleges, universities, health centres, hospitals. They want hospitals to evacuate patients. Shall we kill our patients just because we want to follow their orders? No, let them bomb as they have done. We don’t have anywhere to take our patients because there are no hospitals, beds or safe places.

What is the long-term solution?

If you leave it to the Israelis, there is no solution. There will be more massacres, more war, more killings. This is an apartheid regime. For them, the good Palestinian is the dead Palestinian. But the international community is responsible… we have more than 800 resolutions at the United Nations Security Council and General Assembly, and none of them forced Israel to implement even one resolution. This is the unjust international community.