Algerian Army Chief Compares Morocco’s Sahara Presence to Gaza Conflict

"Indeed, what the brotherly peoples are suffering, both in Palestine and in Western Sahara, highlights the most odious forms of abuse committed against civilians, especially against children, women and the elderly, without any consideration for the most fundamental international rules of human rights and international humanitarian law," said Saïd Chengriha during a visit to the 6th Military Region in Tamanrasset.

According to TSA Algérie, Chengriha believes that the "suffering" of Palestinians and Sahrawis is "similar in many ways," adding that "regardless of cultural and geographical differences," the illegal occupation of the Sahara and Palestine is marked by "injustice and violations of human dignity" and its continuation constitutes a "threat to international peace and security."

"The occupying forces are striving in the practices of oppression, injustice and authoritarianism, employing a policy based on arbitrary arrests, murder, famine, ethnic cleansing, apartheid, and the illegal exploitation of its resources, encouraged in this by variable geometry standards adopted by the international media, to justify the occupation through disinformation..." explained the ANP chief of staff.

The senior Algerian army officer seized the opportunity to denounce the normalization of relations between Morocco and Israel, which occurred in December 2020 as part of the Abraham Accords, under the auspices of the United States under the Trump administration. For Chengriha, Rabat avoids condemning Israeli attacks on Gaza so as not to upset this allied country that has recognized the Moroccanness of the Sahara.