DIPLOMATIC CORRESPONDENT

The recent ruling by the International Court of Justice gave a sense of optimism for the Palestinians struggling for 75 long years for liberation, Palestinian Ambassador to Bangladesh Yousef SY Ramadan said yesterday.

“It’s the first step... We can build upon this,” he said while addressing a discussion organised by Diplomatic Correspondents’ Association Bangladesh at Jatiya Press Club.

The ambassador also said Palestine is extremely grateful to Bangladesh for supporting the genocide case filed by South Africa against Israel with the ICJ.

The ICJ in its ruling on January 26 ordered Israel to prevent the acts of genocide against Palestinians.

According to Palestinian health ministry, some 26,000 Palestinians were killed since October 8 last year after Hamas’ attack killed 1,200 Israelis and wounded many more, and held about 240 hostages.

“We should not just stop there and just enjoy whatever the ICJ said and just relax. We want to provide ICJ with the evidence that Israel did commit genocide. This is our duty. This is the duty of everyone,” Ramadan said.

Israel has so far been enjoying impunity, but the international community is gradually abandoning it, he said.

Asked about Hamas’ thoughts on the repercussion after its attack on October 7 last year, Ambassador Ramadan said he does not represent Hamas or Fattah but the Palestine Liberation Organisation.

He also urged the Muslim nations to unite for justice for the Palestinians.