'Extermination' of Palestinians must stop: African Union chair

ADDIS ABABA: The 'extermination' of the Palestinian people must end, the chairman of the African Union Commission Mahmoud Ali Youssouf said on Saturday as he launched the organisation's 39th summit.
'In the Middle East, Palestine and the suffering of its people also challenge our consciences. The extermination of these people must stop,' said Youssouf, who was elected to head the institution a year ago. The summit brings together heads of state from the 55 member states of the African Union over two days.
Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas called for the removal of 'all obstacles' he said Israel has imposed on implementing phase two of the Gaza ceasefire.
'We emphasise the need to lift all obstacles imposed by the Israeli occupation on the implementation of the provisions related to the second phase of the agreement,' Abbas said, in a speech read by his prime minister Mohammed Mustafa at an African Union summit in Ethiopia.
This included the work of a technocratic committee established to oversee the daily governance of Gaza, he added.
Removal of the obstacles was needed to 'ensure continuity of services, coordinate humanitarian efforts and enable a swift recovery', the president said.
Abbas accused Israel of 'continuing to violate' the ceasefire agreement with Palestinian militant group Hamas that took effect in October and was backed by the United States.
'From the announcement of the ceasefire until today, more than 500 Palestinians have been killed (in Gaza), which threatens the durability of the truce and the full implementation of its second phase,' he added.
Even though the US-brokered truce entered its second phase last month, violence has continued in the Palestinian territory, with Israel and Hamas trading blame.
The deal is aimed at permanently ending the Gaza war and was endorsed in November by the United Nations.
The second phase stipulates that Israeli forces gradually withdraw from Gaza and Hamas should disarm, with an international stabilisation force deployed to ensure security.
Hamas has repeatedly said that disarmament is a red line, although it has indicated it could consider handing over its weapons to a future Palestinian governing authority.
The Israeli army still controls more than half of the Gaza Strip, while Hamas and Israel accuse each other daily of ceasefire violations.
Fifteen Palestinian experts on the technocratic committee, which is being overseen by a 'Board of Peace' set up by US President Donald Trump, are currently based in Egypt, despite a partial reopening on February 2 of the Rafah border crossing, Gaza's only gateway to the outside world that does not lead to Israel.
Nickolay Mladenov, a Bulgarian diplomat whom Trump named high representative for Gaza, said on Friday that 'a number of conditions need to be met' before technocratic committee members can enter the Palestinian territory.
'One, Hamas needs to transfer the civilian control of the institutions in Gaza,' he told a discussion on the sidelines of the Munich Security Conference. — AFP