Sri Lankan President Ranil Wickremesinghe reaffirmed Sri Lanka’s unwavering support for establishing a separate Palestinian state “within five years” on June 23.
Despite Sri Lanka’s current economic challenges, the president highlighted the country’s generosity, noting that public contributions raised one million dollars for his government’s Gaza Children’s Fund, PTI reported.
President Wickremesinghe made these comments during a special service at the Grand Jummah Mosque in the predominantly Muslim town of Kattankudy in the eastern province, held in solidarity with the people of Gaza.
Hamas militants attacked Israel on October 7 last year, resulting in approximately 1,200 deaths and the capture of around 250 hostages. In response, Israel has since then continuously bombarded the Gaza Strip, leading to over 37,000 Palestinian casualties.
“Sri Lanka’s stance on the Gaza clashes would never change, action must be taken to set up an independent Palestine state within five years and murdering of civilians must stop,” the president said.
“People should not be made to pay for the problems with Hamas. We all should assist in finding a solution to the Palestine problem – the state of Palestine must be set up before five years. It will not be productive to waste time talking about it, as we have done now for 40-50 years. Israel’s security concerns must be addressed separately,” Wickremesinghe emphasised.
The Sri Lankan government decided to establish the Gaza Children’s Fund despite the country’s current economic bankruptcy. “We did donate a million dollars, we asked for generous public contributions and we received good response,” Wickremesinghe said as he accepted a donation cheque from the mosque’s trustees, showing solidarity with the cause of Gaza’s children.
