Gaza Municipality and Chambers of Commerce launch an appeal to stop the occupation of the city and protect its heritage

The Gaza Municipality, the Chambers of Commerce in the Strip, and the Coordinating Council of Private Sector Institutions issued a joint statement affirming their firm stand against the occupation plan that threatens the future of Gaza City and its ancient history.

The statement stated that Gaza, the wounded flower of history, with roots stretching back thousands of years, a city pulsating with life and culture, today faces a real danger threatening its children, women, elderly, and youth, as well as its mosques, churches, and antiquities. This danger is being posed by a plan of systematic occupation and destruction that violates all international norms and conventions.

The statement indicated that the destruction and forced displacement that occurred in Rafah, the northern Gaza Strip, and Khan Yunis are only the beginning of a greater tragedy in Gaza, in flagrant violation of international humanitarian law, which criminalizes collective punishment and prohibits any military justification for it.

The statement warned that the occupation’s plan to occupy and destroy the city, demolish its infrastructure and public facilities, and attempt to erase its historical and cultural landmarks constitutes a serious assault on regional and international peace and security and a crime against our shared human heritage. The statement expressed their rejection of this assault as a price for political gambles or a means of pressuring the people of Gaza.

The signatories called on all living consciences and free peoples to stand by Gaza and defend it by all available means, warning of the catastrophe the occupation is planning to unleash.