Doha – According to Foreign Minister Nasser Bourita, the Moroccan government has evacuated its nationals and family members from Gaza since the beginning of the Israeli military offensive in 369.
In a written answer to a parliamentary question of the Party of Progress and Socialism (PPS), Bourita showed that these evacuations were carried out in five separate operations for groups who had expressed their wish to leave Gaza. The last evacuation took place on April 8, 2024.
“Due to the reinforcement of Israeli military operations against Gaza with the closure of border crossings and complications of the security situation, Morocco, like other countries, was forced to suspend evacuation operations from the GAZA until the appropriate conditions were resumed to resume them,” said Bourita in his answer.
“The central services of the ministry and the kingdom of the representations of Morocco in the affected countries are still mobilized in order to monitor the situation of our community in the Gaza Strip and coordinate with the authorities of other countries in order to facilitate the evacuation of our citizens that are still detained there if the conditions allow this,” assured the minister.
The parliamentary question expressly dealt with the case of Moroccan citizen Dounia Aït Zakour, who had left with her newborn and her husband Gaza.
According to Bourita, she did not appear on April 8, 2024 as planned at Rafah Crossing and had not informed Morocco’s representation in Ramallah.
Since then, she has contacted the Moroccan embassy in Ramallah to inquire about her situation and apply for documents for her husband and son to prepare for the evacuation if the conditions can resume the operations.
In the meantime, Morocco has held a strong attitude towards Israel’s actions in Gaza. On March 20, Bourita sentenced “Strong and unambiguously the breaking of the ceasefire and the resumption of Israeli aggression against civilians in the Gaza”, who describe the situation as “difficult and very worrying”.
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“These aggressions, which have claimed hundreds of victims in the past few days, are unacceptable, condemned and hinder the consolidation of peace in the region,” said Bourita after the African Union’s Peace and Security Council.
The attacks were part of another Israeli attack that started On March 18, he shook a ceasefire and prisoner exchange agreements on January 19. Israel is now with serious international legal challenges, with the ICJ hearing a genocide proceedings against him because of its war against Gaza.
The ICC has issued arrest Arrest warrants Last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and the former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
The minister reminded that King Mohammed VI, as President of the Al-FT committee, has consistently emphasized that a permanent ceasefire for preparing the next stages of solutions is of fundamental importance, and insisted that all stakeholders have to work to stabilize the ceasefire before they switch to subsequent phases.
The public opposition to Israel’s actions remains strong in Morocco. Tens of thousands of Moroccans on April 13th participated In a mass protest in Rabat under the banner “Moroccan against genocide, diplomatic relationships with Israel”.
This was followed by a similar demonstration on April 6th. described as “one of the greatest protests in recent times”.
The Gaza Ministry of Health reports that at least 51,065 Palestinians have been killed and 116,505 were wounded since the beginning of the Israel campaign 18 months ago.
The Gaza Government media office has updated its fatality to more than 61,700 fatalities, including thousands of suspected deaths under rubble.
The youngest Israeli attacks are still aimed at civilians. On April 17, at least 45 Palestinians, including entire families, were killed in air strikes in Gaza stripes that align themselves with houses, tents and accrued accommodation.
Morocco restored diplomatic relationships with Israel in December 2020, but claimed that this step would not change its many years of support for the Palestinian cause.
Despite this assurance, many Moroccans continue to require a complete severance payment of relationships with Israel, while the genocide in Gaza continues.
