Gaza conflict: Sarvajana Balaya’s response- I

According to a news report carried in The Island of July 31, 2025, a group of senior representatives of the Sarvajana Balaya (SB) including its leader Dilith Jayaweera MP and Dr Channa Jayasumana had a meeting with Ihab Khalil, the Ambassador of the State of Palestine, two days earlier on Tuesday (29).

- BY ROHANA R. WASALA

They called on the ambassador to communicate to him their condemnation of what they called the ‘Gaza genocide’ and to express ‘the deep and unwavering solidarity of the Sri Lankan people with the innocent civilians of Palestine, who continue to endure immense suffering and a prolonged and inhumane conflict’. The SB delegates expressed the party’s ‘grave concern over the humanitarian catastrophe in Gaza and the occupied Palestinian territories .... the deliberate targeting of civilian infrastructure ... widespread displacement of families ... systematic deprivation of basic necessities resulting in starvation ... which all constitute egregious violations of international law.’

While condemning ‘these atrocities’, the SB called upon Israel to ‘immediately halt all military aggression, lift the illegal siege, and end the collective punishment of an entire population.’ It added: ‘The international community, especially a nation like Sri Lanka, cannot remain indifferent while innocent lives continue to be lost on a daily basis’.

The SB leader MP Dilith Jayaweera stated, ‘We should leave all differences aside and unite to support Palestine against this genocide, while sending a strong message as a nation’. He further said that ‘guided by the timeless principles of our civilisational values, the Sarvajana Balaya reaffirms its belief that it is the moral duty of all global leaders and nations to stand on the side of peace and humanity’. The SB’s appeal ended with the words: ‘At this critical juncture in world history, we call upon international institutions, human rights organisations, and all nations of conscience to act decisively and without delay.’