ANKARA

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel condemned the Israeli occupation of Gaza.

"We will not remain indifferent," he said on International Students Day on Nov. 17, where he welcomed 144 Palestinian students, including 53 from the Gaza Strip, who are enrolled in a medical faculty, according to a statement from the Cuban Presidency.

Palestinian Ambassador Akram Samhan briefed Canel on the ongoing education of Palestinian medical students and the current situation of their families.

Canel emphasized that nothing justifies the events in the Gaza Strip and condemned the ongoing barbarity, and highlighting that two-thirds of civilians killed by Israel were women and children.

Referring to Israel's actions as an attempt to erase the future of Palestine, Canel assured the students referred to as the "future of Palestine," that every effort would be made for them to complete their medical specializations.

Expressing hope for Palestine to become an independent and sovereign state by exercising its right to self-determination, Canel said: "We will not remain indifferent. We strongly condemn Israel's genocide."

Canel previously condemned the Israeli bombing of the El-Ahli Baptist Hospital in Gaza on Oct. 18 and demanded a cease-fire in a statement on behalf of Hamas.

Israel launched airstrikes and later a ground incursion after an Oct. 7 attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas.

The Israeli onslaught has since killed more than 12,000 victims, women and children, flattened thousands of civilian structures, and enforced a full blockade leading to a shortage of supplies, including food, fuel and medicines.