ISTANBUL

Palestinian Ambassador to the UK Husam Zomlot said that Israel’s oppression in his country did not start on Oct. 7 but 106 years ago.

Speaking to Anadolu at the seventh TRT World Forum in Istanbul on Saturday, Zomlot said: "It all started when Britain promised our lands to others without consulting us and turned us, the Palestinian nation, into non-Jewish minorities."

"The quest for freedom and justice by the Palestinian people should now be acknowledged. We need to address issues of human rights, national rights, as well as international consensus and law," Zomlot noted.

"What Israel understands is military solutions, violence, intimidating civilians, and exerting pressure on civilian communities," according to Zomlot.

He noted that Israel's ability to commit all this cruelty is only possible by dehumanizing Palestinians.

"You must have heard. Israeli ministers called us 'human-like animals.' Since you cannot kill ordinary people in this way, you have to dehumanize them," he said.

Zomlot, who gained attention with his statements and appearances on numerous Western television channels such as CNN and BBC, heavily criticized Israel's efforts to portray itself as a victim.

Israel has launched relentless air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip following a cross-border attack by Hamas in October, killing at least 17,700 Palestinians and injuring more than 48,780 others, according to health authorities in the Palestinian enclave.

The Israeli death toll in the Hamas attack stood at 1,200, according to official figures.

* Writing by Zehra Nur Duz