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Report: Israel sidelined at Munich Security Conference amid Gaza genocide

Monday, 29 January 2024 9:58 PM [ Last Update: Tuesday, 30 January 2024 2:32 AM ]

File photo shows Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, addressing the Munich Security Conference in 2018.

Requests from top Israeli officials to be placed as keynote speakers during this year's Munich Security Conference (MSC) have been reportedly rejected by the event's organizers amid the regime's ongoing genocide in the besieged Gaza Strip.

"The organizers of the Munich Security Conference, considered one of the most respected events held annually in the area of defense, have apparently decided this year to sideline Israel," a report by Israeli media said on Monday.

It added that ahead of this year's conference, which will take place in two weeks, the organizers have rejected all of Israel's requests for key appearances.

Among Israel's rejected requests is the one put forth by the regime's minister of military affairs, Yaov Galant. The organizers have essentially denied him the opportunity to speak to a large audience. Instead, Gallant has been offered to participate as a panel speaker.

This is while during past events, the conference traditionally had Israeli speakers placed in key panels and forums, including its prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and the regime's minister of military affairs, all of whom were allowed to address the plenary.

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The conference’s organizers have even rebuffed the families of Israeli captives held by the Gaza-based resistance movements, who had requested to hold a special ceremony in a large forum. They were told they could only hold an event on the sidelines, which means that there would be scant attendance and little media coverage.

The Israeli regime has brought Gaza under an unrelenting and indiscriminate genocidal war since October 7, when the coastal territory's resistance movements staged an operation, dubbed Al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupied territories.

The onslaught has to date claimed the lives of more than 26,600 people, mostly women and children, leaving over 65,300 others injured.

Tel Aviv has compounded the military onslaught with a total siege that has effectively blocked the flow of food, medicine, fuel, water, and electricity into Gaza, thus increasing the prospect of all-out famine across the Palestinian territory.

On Friday, the International Court of Justice, the United Nations top court, issued an interim ruling, ordering the regime to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza.