The Hon. Sajith Premadasa - Leader of the Opposition

¶ 01 Hon. Presiding Member, I wish to present our views in Parliament today on the grave and tragic situation in Palestine. At this very moment, Israel is attacking Gaza, effectively nullifying the two‑state solution recognized by global consensus, and violating UN General Assembly Resolution 242 and Resolution 338 by engaging in an invasion of another people’s territory. We strongly condemn this aggression.

¶ 02 What is happening today in Palestine is a massive massacre, a great tragedy. Hospitals are being targeted and bombed to the ground. A humanitarian catastrophe has been created. We condemn, as a nation and as a people, state terrorism that targets children, mothers and civilians. We must not be afraid to state our position publicly in defense of human rights and human dignity, a stance accepted by many countries in the world.

¶ 03 The Israel‑Palestine conflict has a long history: 1948, the Suez Crisis of 1956, the 1967 Six‑Day War, the 1973 Yom Kippur War; then Camp David, Oslo and other agreements sought progress. Extremists on both sides undermined leaders who moved to the middle ground—Yitzhak Rabin and Anwar al‑Sadat were assassinated by extremists. Today, even the delivery of food to Palestinian civilians—children and mothers—is being deliberately obstructed, and humanitarian workers are being bombed. We firmly condemn Israel’s policy of state terrorism and must say so openly.

¶ 04 I propose that our Government actively engage, through the ongoing session of the UN Human Rights Council, to support the two‑state solution and play a mediating role where possible. As a small country, our contribution still matters in calling for an immediate end to the slaughter of children, mothers and civilians. Let us, government and opposition together, bless the two‑state solution and urge Israel to immediately halt this state terrorism. Thank you.