News
President promises school for Gaza in talks with West Asian envoys
View(s):President Ranil Wickremesinghe has told West Asian envoys that Sri Lanka will build a school in Gaza once the conflict ends and reconstruction begins, the Sunday Times learns.
This was one of the takeaways from the highly reported meeting the President convened on Thursday, probably to clear confusion in the Arab and Islamic diplomatic missions due to the Government’s decision to patrol the Red Sea to protect international ships from attacks launched by Yemen’s Houthi forces.
The president also assured Sri Lanka’s support for the Palestinian cause and his administration’s commitment to the two-state solution.
On the question of Hamas, whose attack on October 7 triggered the ongoing phase of Israel’s war on Gaza, diplomatic sources said the president made a remark to the effect that any move to remove Hamas should be preceded by removing Israeli settlers from occupied Palestinian lands in the West Bank.
As regards the deployment of Sri Lanka’s Navy to the Red Sea, the President is reported to have said such deployment was in the interest of Sri Lanka’s economy, but the matter was still under consideration.
But the Palestinian supporters in Sri Lanka say the president’s move is indicative of support for Israel, as the Houthis were only targeting vessels with Israeli links, intending to end the genocide in Gaza
It is still not clear whether the President would go ahead with the deployment given the worsening war situation in the Red Sea region. The US and Britain have carried out multiple bombing raids on Houthi positions in Yemen, and the Houthis have vowed revenge attacks.
On Wednesday, the UN Security Council passed a resolution demanding Yemen’s Houthi forces end attacks on ships in the Red Sea and free the Japanese-operated Galaxy Leader that was seized last year.
Eleven members of the council voted for the measure calling on the Iran-aligned Houthis to “immediately cease all attacks, which impede global commerce and navigational rights and freedoms as well as regional peace”.
Four members – Algeria, China, Mozambique and Russia – abstained. None voted against. As permanent members of the council, China and Russia have vetoes but chose not to use them.
“The world’s message to the Houthis today was clear: Cease these attacks immediately,” Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US’ ambassador to the United Nations, said in a statement after the vote. The US sponsored the resolution alongside Japan.
“With this resolution, the Council has lived up to its responsibility to help ensure the free flow of lawful transit through the Red Sea continues unimpeded,” Ms. Thomas-Greenfield added.
The US says the Iran-backed Houthis have carried out 26 attacks on commercial ships in the Red Sea since commandeering the Galaxy Leader and its 25-strong multinational crew on November 19.
The Houthis claim they are targeting Israeli-linked or Israel-bound vessels in protest against the ongoing war on Gaza, but many of the ships have had no discernible link with the country, and many lines have begun to avoid the area altogether.
The key provision of the resolution noted the right of UN member states, in accordance with international law, “to defend their vessels from attack, including those that undermine navigational rights and freedoms”.
The provision amounts to an implicit endorsement of Operation Prosperity Guardian, a US-led multinational naval task force, including the United Kingdom and Norway, that was established in December to defend commercial shipping from Houthi attacks.
Mohammed Ali al-Houthi, the head of Yemen’s Houthi supreme revolutionary committee in Yemen, dismissed the UN resolution as a “political game” and claimed the US was the one violating international law.
The best way to say that you found the home of your dreams is by finding it on Hitad.lk. We have listings for apartments for sale or rent in Sri Lanka, no matter what locale you're looking for! Whether you live in Colombo, Galle, Kandy, Matara, Jaffna and more - we've got them all!