Members of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) on Monday condemned the recent "criminal" actions carried out by Hamas in Gaza, stressing that the Palestinian Liberation Organisation (PLO) remains the "sole and legitimate" representative of the Palestinian people and an "essential" party to any negotiations aimed at resolving the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.In a statement distributed here today, NAM, comprising over 120 countries and chaired by Cuba, called for urgent efforts to be undertaken in order to avoid the complete disintegration of the foundation of a future sovereign, viable, independent Palestinian State and to rehabilitate and develop Palestinian institutions. NAM called for the restoration of the situation in the Gaza Strip to that which existed prior to the recent events, and for measures to be taken to preserve the territorial unity and integrity of the Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.
It called on the Palestinian leadership, the leaders of all factions and all Palestinians to unite in support of President Mahmoud Abbas and to resolve their differences by peaceful means, expressing support for a national dialogue to achieve national reconciliation.
Blaming the Jewish state for what happened in Gaza recently, NAM said the Israeli actions, including military attacks, "have seriously undermined the functioning of the Palestinian Authority and have undoubtedly contributed to the growing polarization in the Palestinian society." NAM also condemned Israel for the prolonged occupation of the Palestinian territory and for all the "war crimes" it perpetrated there for four decades.
It finally called on the parties to the Middle East conflict to "urgently" resume peace negotiations on all tracks on the basis of international law, relevant UN resolutions, the principle of land for peace and the Arab Peace Initiative in order to comprehensively resolve the Arab-Israeli conflict as a whole.