Salah Abdel-Shafi, the current Palestinian ambassador to Austria and permanent observer to the UN in Vienna, has stated that he could not understand why Croatia, a country that also had a war of independence, voted against a recent UN resolution on Gaza.

On 27 October, the UN General Assembly adopted a non-binding resolution on Gaza by a majority vote. A total of 120 countries voted for the document, 45 abstained and 14, including Croatia voted against it.

The resolution fails to mention terrorist attacks launched by Hamas on Israel and Hamas’ responsibility for killings of civilians, and therefore Croatia voted against this document, the foreign ministry explained on 28 October. The resolution makes no mention of Hamas’ terrorist attack on Israel on 7 October, and such wording is in contravention with the European Council’s conclusions that clearly specify Hamas. A majority of the EU member-states were either against the resolution or abstained from voting on such document, the ministry said.

Palestinian representative Abdel Shafi has said in an interview with Hina that Croatia’s decision to vote against the document is utterly disappointing.

We cannot understand such behaviour by Croatia, he said, accusing Croatia of being against the resolution on saving lives.

The resolution, proposed by Jordan and some Arab countries, calls for immediate and sustained ‘humanitarian truce’, and  document condemns all crimes against Israeli and Palestinian civilians, however, it makes no mention of Hamas and fails to condemn the crimes it committed against civilians.

According to Palestinian data, over 10,000 civilians including 4,000 children lost their lives in Gaza after Israel started an offensive in response to the Hamas’ attack on Israel on 7 October which took the lives of 1,400 Israeli civilians.

Shafi said that the position of Palestine is to repudiate the policy of attacking civilians.

Civilians must not be attacked, it is against international law. Those who attack civilians, regardless of their ethnic roots, should be held accountable under international law, he said.

Shafi condemned terrorism by Hamas but he also offered a sort of justification for acts by Hamas.

The developments of 7 October are not an isolated event. History did not start on that day. The history of the Middle East should be viewed against a background of 55 years of (Israeli) occupation and 15 years of the blockade of Gaza, he said wondering what Israel could expect after all that.

We must view that event in the context of what had happened there, said Shafi, who is also the Palestinian representative to Slovenia and Croatia.

He said that he had no opportunity to contact the Croatian government in recent days.

I have no opportunity but I am going to talk with somebody from the Croatian government, he underscored.

Shafi says that genocide is being conducted in Gaza.

In legal terms and according to international law  what the Israelis are doing in the Gaza Strip amounts to genocide, he said.

The right to self-defence invoked by Israel does not mean a licence to kill, he added.

He said that by voting against the resolution, the four EU member-states, Austria, Hungary, Czechia and Croatia became “accomplices to the murder”.

Israeli ambassador: We are fighting Hamas, not Palestinians

Israel is not fighting the Palestinian people, but Hamas, whose actions are detrimental to the Palestinians themselves, Israeli Ambassador to Croatia Gary Koren said in Zagreb on 2 November.

He held a press briefing at the Israeli Embassy in Zagreb, where footage of the Hamas attack on October 7 this year was shown. According to the latest data, 1,400 people were killed in that attack, 5,400 were injured, 240 were kidnapped, and 15 percent of the victims have not been identified.

The shocking footage, which was not released to the Israeli public but was only shown to ministers and politicians, showed decapitations, executions, mutilations of the dead and kidnappings.

The ambassador said they decided to show the footage because they think that in the West it is not clear enough what Israel is fighting against.

We are not fighting the Palestinians, but terrorist organisations, Jihadists, Koren said.

Defending Israel’s war tactics in the Gaza Strip, Koren said that they have the right to attack civilian infrastructure if it is being used for military purposes, which is in accordance with international law.

Koren stressed that Hamas is deliberately hiding behind civilians, and reiterated that the militants are prepared to sacrifice Palestinian lives.

Two states

Shafi says that Palestine advocates the UN two-state solution peace plan for Israel and Palestine within their borders such were in 1967.

Palestine has been trying for decades to ensure its international recognition, however, many countries ignore its appeal, he admitted, wondering why the UN solution cannot be implemented if the whole world agrees on it.

Shafi claims that Hamas would accept that solution, while the Israeli ambassador recently recalled that Hamas does not hide the fact that Israel as a state should be wiped out.