Prime Minister of Scotland: Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are dying and should not be punished collectively

Scottish Prime Minister Hamza Youssef has stressed that Palestinians in  Gaza Strip are dying amid a humanitarian catastrophe and should not be punished collectively.

“The people of Gaza are dying due to a humanitarian catastrophe, and they cannot be punished collectively. It  is necessary that aid reaches them because they are already suffering severely.” Commenting on a number of countries stopping funding for UNRWA, Youssef tweeted on the x-platform

In this context, the independent United Nations Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinian territory, Francesca Albanese, confirmed that the decision of some countries to suspend funding for UNRWA represents a collective punishment for the Palestinians.

“The day after the International Court of Justice concluded that Israel was committing genocide in the Gaza Strip, some countries decided to stop funding UNRWA” Albanese wrote on the X platform.

She added this resulted in collective punishment of millions of Palestinians at the most crucial time, and most likely in violation of those states’ obligations   under the Convention on the Prevention of the Crime of Genocide.

Rawaa Ghanam