The Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) has expressed deep concern over the use of internationally-banned munitions, like white phosphorus bombs, by Israeli military forces in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon, demanding an international investigation into the issue.
The 120-member international organization made the plea in a statement at the 38th conference of the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) member states, which opened in the Dutch city of The Hague on November 27 and will run through December 1.
NAM also denounced the ongoing Israeli crimes during the regime’s atrocious onslaught on Gaza, throwing weight behind the Palestinian Authority’s request to launch a probe into the possible use of chemical weapons by the occupying regime.
The statement, citing official reports, expressed deep concern about the use of prohibited weapons by the Israeli military, including bombs containing white phosphorous, in Gaza and southern Lebanon.
It also warned about the possibility of Israel’s employment of nerve agents and other toxic substances in attacks on besieged Gaza and the occupied West Bank.
The statement went on to touch on other issues, including the need to step up international cooperation for removal of discriminatory restrictions, including unilateral sanctions, and support for victims of chemical weapons.
NAM stressed that the onus is on governments and the OPCW’s Technical Secretariat to provide victims of chemical weapons with the necessary medicine and facilities.
Israel launched the war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance movement waged the surprise Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the occupying entity in response to the Israeli regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians.
According to the Gaza-based health ministry, over 15,000 Palestinians, including more than 6,150 children and 4,000 women, were killed in Israeli strikes, during the 49 days of war. Many more dead are feared to be under the rubble.
Tel Aviv has also imposed a “complete siege” on Gaza, cutting off fuel, electricity, food, and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
