FM Fajon urges humanitarian ceasefire in Middle East

"We're deeply concerned over the humanitarian crisis in Palestine. We're following with great concern the closure of hospitals, shortage of water and shortage of food. We are calling for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire, for opening humanitarian corridors and supplying civilians with humanitarian aid," said Fajon.

The minister believes that such a ceasefire could reduce the risk of the conflict spreading through the region.

"We must act in line with international law, humanitarian law and do everything for the conflict not to spread. So we are calling on everyone to refrain from further violence and from killing innocent civilians."

Fajon stressed that Slovenia supports Israel's right to self-defence, where the country must act in a proportionate manner, as a determined military attack could have serious consequences and cause numerous civilian casualties.

At the same time, Slovenia supports all efforts for peace in the Middle East that would be based on a two-state solution, Fajon also said.

During the meeting, she expressed support for efforts to prevent the spread of the conflict and to relaunch a peace-building political process in the Middle East, the Foreign Ministry said in a press release. She also advocated stepped-up efforts to "resume, as soon as possible, peace talks that would lead to a two-state solution and hence peace in the Middle East".

A similar statement was issued by the United Nations Association of Slovenia on Monday, which stressed the role of a peaceful diplomatic solution for sustainable peace in the Middle East, while supporting UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres's appeal for a ceasefire and for starting talks.

The talks are necessary "to prevent the potential spread of the war across the entire region and the potential scenario of the war turning into an armed geopolitical conflict of superpowers", the association wrote.

It also supported Guterres's appeal to open humanitarian corridors and deliver humanitarian aid to all civilians trapped in the Gaza Strip.

While condemning Hamas's terror attack on Israel, it warned that Israel's right to self-defence under Article 51 of the UN Charters has its limits in international law.

The conflict that started on 7 October has claimed 1,400 lives in Israel and more than 5,000 among Palestinians, with most of the victims on both sides being civilians.