LEADERS of the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) have called Israel’s military campaign in the Gaza Strip “illegal” and strongly condemned indiscriminate attacks against Palestinian civilians, civilian infrastructure and the forced displacement of the Palestinian population.

While calling for a ceasefire, the movement called in a joint statement on Saturday for a two-state solution, on the basis of the borders before 1967, when Israel seized Gaza, the West Bank and East Jerusalem in a brief war with neighbouring Arab states.

The group also reiterated support for a Palestinian state to be admitted as a full member of the United Nations.

The NAM has played a key part in decolonisation processes. 

A driving force behind the formation of NAM was the importance of not being formally aligned with or against any major power bloc.

Ninety representatives, including 30 heads of state, from the 120 countries that are members of NAM took part in the week-long conference in Ugandan capital Kampala. It culminated in a summit of heads of state on Friday and Saturday.

Gaza’s Health Ministry says more than 25,000 Palestinians have been killed, and the UN says a quarter of the 2.3 million people trapped in Gaza are starving. 

In Israel, about 1,200 people were killed during the surprise October 7 attack by Hamas that sparked the war and saw some 250 people taken hostage.

The NAM statement said that members were very concerned at the continued deterioration of the situation on ground and the humanitarian crisis.

It condemned Israel’s continuing settlement construction and expansion activities throughout the Palestinian territories, as well as in Syria’s Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

In his address to the summit, UN secretary-general Antonio Guterres said Israel’s refusal to accept the two-state solution and the denial of the right to statehood for the Palestinian people were unacceptable.