‘We will not stop calling for peace’: Palestinian envoy on Gaza, West Bank crisis

As West Asia strives to survive one conflict after another, the fate of Palestinians living in Gaza and the West Bank remains uncertain. Violence and turbulence in both the Palestinian territories are a routine reality for civilians, despite the Israel-Hamas ceasefire that US President Donald Trump brokered last year.

In an exclusive interview with Firstpost, Palestinian ambassador to India, Abdullah M Abu Shawesh, hit out at Israel, accusing it of creating a humanitarian crisis in the region. Shawesh also played down the hype around Trump's Gaza peace plan, arguing that Palestinians have been struggling in Gaza and the West Bank for a long time without any solution coming for the Palestine State.

'I was born in a refugee camp'

Ambassador Shawesh, who was born in Nuseirat Refugee Camp in the Gaza Strip, accused successive governments of Israel of commiting atrocitieson Palestinian population. "What has been happening for a long time, or for 58 years now, is the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza, including, of course, East Jerusalem," he told Firstpost.

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Referring to the 1948 violence in Nakba during the establishment of the State of Israel, Shawesh said, "The ethnic cleansing faced by the vast majority of the Palestinian people at that time, the indigenous Palestinian people, the native Palestinian people, had been expelled and ethnically cleansed from their homeland and became refugees in Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, Egypt, the West Bank, and Gaza."

He dismissed the Bill of Declaration by the British under the 1917 accord as "despicable and ominous bill". He said, "The British, who have zero footprint in our homeland, who have zero right to claim or even talk about us and our land, gifted our homeland to the Khazarian Jews and the European Jews at that time."

"It's an unjust situation that we are enduring at the hands of the British, then the Jewish, who immigrated from Europe, then at the hands of the State of Israel, and then by the State of Israel occupying the West Bank and Gaza," Shawesh said.

"My late father was born in our original village, Berqa. Likewise, tens of thousands of Palestinians were expelled at that time in 1948, from their native homeland, from their native villages, and became refugees in Gaza. My father and my whole Abushawish family became refugees in Gaza, so I was born in a refugee camp. This is our misery. This is our story as Palestinians," he said.

"No one wants us to talk about it. Many of the complicit Western media did not give us the chance to talk, to speak, to expose our reality, to expose our story," he said.

'We aren't controlling anything in West Bank'

In February 2026, the Israeli government approved a plan to expand its control over the West Bank, especially in Area C. Shawesh shared the Palestinian version of the backstory of Area C , emphasising that region was important for the Palestinians in the West Bank.

"In the Oslo Accords, the West Bank had been divided into three main areas: Area C, Area B, and Area A. Area C alone is approximately 61 to 63 per cent of the entire West Bank, which means the vast majority of the West Bank is Area C," he explained.

"Area C alone is approximately 61 to 63 per cent of the entire West Bank, which means the vast majority of the West Bank is Area C. We used to have, but now nothing, we are not controlling anything because they are treating the entire West Bank as the public land of Israel," the Palestinian envoy told Firstpost.

He maintained that Area C is where the West Bank has its major natural resources. "Waters in Area C, agricultural land is Area C, and, of course, the grazing space, which is for, belonged to the very ancient, shepherded communities in the West Bank, is also in Area C," he said.

"Unfortunately, Israel has extended its sovereignty in the region. They are calling for the annexation, and just less than two days ago, one of their ministers, the energy minister, said that we are implementing the annexation, de facto annexation, and de jure annexation of the entire West Bank," the Palestinian envoy said.

'Why have Netanyahu on Board of Peace?'

The creation of the Board of Peace was part of the Trump-brokered Israel-Hamas peace deal. The board is headed by Trump, and also comprising top officials of his administration. Some of this allies are also on the board tasked with the reconstruction of Gaza.

While Shawesh called for peace, he condemned the inclusion of Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the board. "Indeed, when you talk about the Board of Peace, and one of its members is the fugitive, the Israeli prime minister, the one who's responsible for killing 74,000 Palestinians, the one who's responsible for destroying the vast majority of the infrastructure in Gaza," he alleged.

"He's the one who's responsible for expanding and giving full immunity to the Jewish terror in the West Bank. Then this exact person who's wanted by the ICJ, he's the one who's wanted, according to international law, his exact name now, fugitive from international justice. (8:27) Then he became a member of the Board of Peace. It's a misery. You can call it a black comedy. You can call it a farce," he said.

The Palestinian ambassador said that Israel did not cease the fire as "five to ten Palestinians are being killed daily, even though both sides agreed to a ceasefire".

"Also, in this agreement that they signed in Sharm el-Sheikh last October in Egypt, Israel agreed to allow the entrance of the humanitarian aid in a sufficient amount, approximately, we are talking about 600 trucks per day, before the catastrophe, before the genocidal war. Israel did not allow the humanitarian aid to enter in a sufficient way," he said, citing the United Nations reports.

'Netanyahu strengthened Hamas'

Shawesh alleged that Hamas flourished in Gaza due to Netanyahu's backing. He said while the Hamas has governed Gaza for years, it is the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) and the Palestinian Authority (PA) that are the ones responsible for the education, health care and other provisions in Gaza.

"The one million dollar question should be, who is the one benefiting from Hamas controlling Gaza and the division of the Palestinians? And who's the one who's created Hamas and strengthened Hamas and strengthened its control in Gaza, over Gaza? It's Israel," he remarked.

"The one who created Hamas, established Hamas, in the mid-1970s, is Israel. It was called, at that time, the Islamic League. Then it converted to become Hamas during the first Intifada. The one who's been strengthening Hamas in Gaza since 2007 is the current Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu and his supporter," he said.

"The one who's strengthening Hamas, calling and begging the Qataris to support Hamas with cash, is Benjamin Netanyahu. The Qatarian cash used to come from Qatar to the Israeli airport and through the Israeli airport in suitcases [and in bags, with the permission of the current fugitive from justice, the Israeli prime minister, to Gaza."

'Palestine ready for negotiation'

Shawesh emphasised the need to resolve the issue diplomatically, instead of resorting to war. "War means someone will be defeated. War means many casualties. War means a miserable situation," he said.

"But the other choice, instead of going to war, we can sit down to negotiate, discuss," he said, adding that Palestinians agreed to settle themselves in only 22 per cent of the historical land because they wanted peace in the first place.

"Any Israeli official, you will not hear him referring to the word peace. The word peace is completely removed from the Israeli discourse altogether. The word peace is still and will continue to be the main goal for us as a Palestinian people and, of course, as Palestinian leaders," he said.

'The endgame for Palestine is peace'

When asked about what Palestinians hope for the future, Shawesh maintained that "the endgame for Palestine should be peace. We will not stop calling for peace and justice for Palestinians".

"International law should be applied to everyone. But we cannot talk about peace, justice, international law, while Israel is the one that refuses any reference to the word peace, refuses any reference to the word justice, refuses to abide by the international law, refuses to abide by the adopted UN resolution, refusing anything," he said.

Criticising Tel Aviv, Shawesh said, "Israel is a state above international law. This is something everyone knows."

Referring to the EU sanctions on Russia during the war in Ukraine, but Shawesh questioned as to why Israel did not face the same scrutiny. "Israel is treated by the international community, by the Western countries at large, as the grumpy, spoiled teenager. Stop treating Israel as a grumpy, spoiled teenager," he said.

You can watch the full interview with Palestinian ambassador Shawesh here: