The Senate, on Tuesday November 7, 2023, urged the Nigerian government to take prompt steps, in concert with other countries, to cease the continuing Israeli-Hamas fighting and save lives and property.

It also asked the Federal Government to press for a two-state solution as a lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as previously endorsed by the United Nations (UN) in 1948.

The resolutions were passed in response to a motion proposed by Senator Suleiman Kawu Sumaila (Kano South) and co-sponsored by 28 other senators.

Since the fighting began in October 2023, many have been dead and maimed, including women, children, and relief workers, while residential buildings, schools, health institutions, and worship centres have been destroyed.

The two-state solution asks for the creation of an independent Palestinian state alongside Israel.

Senator Adamu Aliero (PDP, Kebbi), who introduced the motion, stated that the current war’s casualty counts were appalling and that if not terminated soon, it may lead to World War III.

Senators who spoke during the discussion, including Barau Jibrin (Kano), Enyinnaya Abaribe (Abia), and Sani Musa (Niger), all decried the killings on both sides and demanded a halt to the fighting immediately.

“What we need now is a ceasefire so that people who are being killed every day will no longer be killed,” Deputy Senate President Barau Jibrin said.

“So many individuals have died, and so many children have been orphaned. On television, all you see about the fight are dead bodies and so on. This is simply unacceptable. All of this is detrimental to the 21st century. We should add our voices to those of responsible people all over the world that Palestine and Israel should come together and accept the two-state solution for permanent peace to prevail in that region of the world,” he added.

For Abaribe, “Having experienced the Nigerian civil war in 1967 as a child, an eye for an eye will lead to everybody not having eyes at all. I call for an immediate ceasefire and end to the conflict.”

Meanwhile, the United States (US) reiterated Tuesday that it opposes Israel’s resumption of a long-term occupation of the Gaza Strip, whose Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu promised “overall security” of the territory following the conflict.

“Our viewpoint is that Palestinians must be at the forefront of these decisions and Gaza is Palestinian land and it will remain Palestinian land,” State Department spokesman, Vedant Patel, told reporters.

“Generally speaking, we do not support the reoccupation of Gaza and neither does Israel,” AFP quoted Patel as saying.

In 2005, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, which it had occupied during the 1967 Six-Day War. After Hamas terrorists took control of the territory, it imposed an embargo.

According to Patel, the US concurred that “there is no returning to the October 6 status quo,” referring to the day before Hamas launched a huge onslaught.

“Israel and the region must be secure and Gaza should and can no longer be a base from which to launch terror attacks against the people of Israel or anyone else,” Patel said.

In an interview on Monday, November 6, 2023, Netanyahu stated that Israel would assume “overall security” over Gaza “for an indefinite period” after the war, which is already in its second month.

According to reports, Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant stated that Israel will “retain complete freedom of action to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip” once the conflict is over.

Gallant told the Foreign Affairs and Defence Committee on Tuesday that “at the end of this ‘campaign,’ Hamas will cease to exist as a military organisation or governing body in Gaza.” Gallant’s remarks were made public on the Ynet news website.

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“There will be no security threat to Israel from Gaza, and Israel will retain complete freedom of action, to respond to any situation in the Gaza Strip that poses any kind of threat,” Gallant said.