Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Calls for Urgent International Action to Support Gaza at Cairo Ministerial Conference

Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Mr. Fuad Hussein, led the delegation of the Republic of Iraq participating in the Cairo Ministerial Conference to Enhance the Humanitarian Response in Gaza, which witnessed high-level international participation, On 2 December 2024.

The Minister delivered a speech at the conference, in which he stressed the importance of this meeting, which aims to address the dangerous escalation in the region, especially the war that has been ongoing for more than a year on the Gaza Strip, in addition to the situations in Syria and other countries of the region.

Minister Hussein underlined the common stance towards the attacks and violations committed by the Israeli entity against the Palestinian people in Gaza, and the importance of facing the humanitarian catastrophe that the Palestinian brothers are experiencing. 

Furthermore the Minister referred to the occupation forces’s continued brutal aggression against defenseless civilians in the Gaza Strip, which has left tens of thousands of martyrs and wounded, in addition to the destruction of hospitals, schools, shelters for the displaced and places of worship, Minister Hussein stressed the need to end the siege imposed on Gaza.

The Minister reiterated Iraq’s firm stance on the Palestinian issue, calling for achieving the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, including self-determination, ending the Israeli occupation, and establishing an independent Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital.

He also welcomed the decision of the International Criminal Court issued on November 21, 2024, which included issuing an arrest warrant for the Prime Minister of the Israeli occupation government and its former Minister of Defense, calling on other countries to commit to cooperating with the court to implement this decision.

The Minister called on other countries to increase humanitarian and relief support for the Palestinian people, treat the wounded, and provide medical and humanitarian assistance, in addition to promoting financial and political support for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), affirming the need to protect the agency’s work from the occupation’s attempts to undermine it. 

Iraq also re-submitted its initiative presented at the Cairo Peace Summit in 2023, to establish a fund to support Gaza, calling for the distribution of obligations among countries in a deliberate and systematic way.