<\/p>\n
16 October 2024<\/p>\n
9750th Meeting (AM)<\/p>\n
Urgent action is needed to address the abject conditions and intolerable suffering in Gaza, a senior humanitarian UN official told the Security Council today, as delegates expressed horror at the recent strike on a hospital that killed displaced persons sheltering there, amidst Israel\u2019s intensifying operations in northern Gaza.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe atrocities in Gaza must end, but this cannot happen through words; it must happen through action \u2014 urgent, unequivocal action,\u201d declared Joyce Msuya, Acting Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, who reported that, since her last briefing to the Council on 9\u00a0October, the people of Gaza have suffered multiple mass casualties due to Israeli air strikes, with nearly 400\u00a0Palestinians killed in Gaza and almost 1,500\u00a0injured. \u00a0\u201cThe world has seen the images of patients and displaced persons, sheltering near Al-Aqsa Hospital, burning alive, while others, including women and children, are suffering the excruciating pain of severe life-changing burns,\u201d without any way to get urgent care, she said.<\/p>\n
Detailing other developments in northern Gaza, where Israel\u2019s military offensive is intensifying and Jabaliya is under siege, where 55,000\u00a0displaced people are stranded with water and food running out, she reported that, hours before, a strike on a school serving as a shelter in Nuseirat killed more than 20\u00a0people. \u00a0Meanwhile, only 3 of the 10\u00a0hospitals in North Gaza Governorate are now operational and only at minimum capacity. \u00a0In addition, 11,000\u00a0pregnant women have no antenatal care. \u00a0On 12\u00a0October, an inter-agency team \u2014 from the United Nations, an international, non-governmental organization and the Palestine Red Crescent Society \u2014 was finally able to reach the Kamal Adwan and Al-Sahaba hospitals in northern Gaza, \u201cafter nine separate attempts where they were denied or impeded by Israeli forces,\u201d she pointed out, stressing that \u201chumanitarian aid cannot be provided in one-off batches\u201d.<\/p>\n
Also reporting that no food aid entered northern Gaza from 2\u00a0October to 15\u00a0October, when a trickle was allowed in, she said: \u00a0\u201cGiven the abject conditions and intolerable suffering in north Gaza, the fact that humanitarian access is nearly non-existent is unconscionable.\u201d \u00a0Less than a third of the 286\u00a0humanitarian missions coordinated with Israeli authorities in the first two weeks of October were facilitated without major incidents or delays. \u00a0\u201cThis woeful and unacceptable trend must change,\u201d she stated.\u00a0However, the second polio campaign began in northern Gaza, with teams from the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East\u00a0(UNRWA) vaccinating 43\u00a0per\u00a0cent of children the first day, thus demonstrating the critical role of the Agency.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe level of suffering in Gaza defies our ability to capture it in words, or even to comprehend its scale,\u201d she said, underscoring that international law must be respected, and the Council must exert all their influence to ensure it.\u00a0 The wounded and sick must receive the care they need, and hospitals and medical personnel must be protected.\u00a0 The provisional orders and determinations of the International Court of Justice must be respected.\u00a0 There must be accountability for international crimes.<\/p>\n
In the face of the \u201cmonstrosity\u201d unfolding in northern Gaza, \u201csilence and inaction are not an option,\u201d said the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine. \u00a0The Palestinian and Lebanese people are paying the price for Israel\u2019s impunity.\u00a0 Yet that country is not being held accountable for any of it. \u00a0In northern Gaza, 400,000\u00a0besieged, starved, and bombed Palestinians are being subjected to the so-called General Plan, according to which any Palestinian remaining in the north is considered a legitimate military target. \u00a0\u201cThat is not war. \u00a0These are crimes. \u00a0They must be stopped. \u00a0And they must be stopped now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Although \u201cmany members around this table refuse to do so\u201d, he called on the Council to \u201cfight back with the tools provided by the Charter and by the law to combat those who are obliterating the Charter and the law\u201d. \u00a0The massacres have to stop. \u00a0\u201cCeasefire now,\u201d he said, declaring: \u00a0\u201cWe are not powerless. \u00a0This Council is not powerless. \u00a0These United Nations are not powerless. \u00a0The international community is not powerless.\u201d \u00a0Hundreds of thousands of lives hang in the balance; the future of the region hangs in the balance. \u00a0\u201cIt is time to act. \u00a0Anything else is complicity and surrender,\u201d he stressed. \u00a0\u201cThe Palestinian people enduring hell did not surrender. Neither should you.\u201d<\/p>\n
However, Israel\u2019s representative, detailing recent attacks against his country, including Hizbullah\u2019s launching of 320\u00a0missiles and drones on Yom Kippur, underscored that while today\u2019s meeting is on the humanitarian situation in Gaza, Israelis are targeted daily by those seeking their destruction. \u00a0Although \u201c101 human beings have been tormented by Hamas terrorists in their terror dungeons\u201d for the past 376\u00a0days, Council members barely mentioned the hostages, or did so as an afterthought, he said. \u00a0\u201cHamas must release the hostages immediately and unconditionally and lay down their arms,\u201d he said, calling on anyone who \u201ctruly wishes to see change\u201d to echo his demand.<\/p>\n
Days ago, Israeli forces uncovered weapons and explosives in a clinic of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), he reported. \u00a0Meanwhile, Israel has facilitated humanitarian aid, despite Hamas\u2019 effort to embed itself among medical staff and patients. \u00a0Israel and its humanitarian partners have \u201cflooded\u201d Gaza with humanitarian aid. \u00a0The Council, he insisted, is missing the real issue: \u00a0that Hamas has hijacked aid and \u201cweaponized\u201d the humanitarian situation. \u00a0He therefore envisioned a \u201cfuture Gaza, one in which aid reaches those it is intended for; where humanitarian agencies are not fronts for terrorists; and where people in Gaza can live without fear of Hamas.\u201d \u00a0This vision cannot be realized with Hamas in power.\u201d<\/p>\n
As Council members took the floor, the representative of Algeria, who requested the meeting, was among many speakers expressing alarm about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza, pointing out that, as the international community celebrates World Food Day today, long-suffering Palestinians in Gaza are struggling to find food. \u00a0The response of the Israeli occupying Power to the provisional measures of the International Court of Justice, as well as Council resolutions, \u201chas been nothing short of disdainful,\u201d he said, noting its closure of crossing points, increased restrictions to access, and the \u201cimmoral use of starvation as a warfare\u201d.\u00a0 Israeli occupying authorities are \u201ctrampling upon the very essence of human decency\u201d, he said, urging decisive Council action on the matter on which \u201cthe lives of countless civilians hang in the balance\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe must not allow the shredding of the moral and legal thread that holds our Organization together,\u201d urged Guyana\u2019s delegate, appealing to the Council to determine how to implement the orders of the International Court of Justice, and to \u201cagree to pull the plug and stand up for Palestinians\u201d. \u00a0Echoing calls for Council unity, including from Slovenia\u2019s representative, she stressed: \u00a0\u201cWhen legally binding resolutions and countless appeals to conscience and morality fail to change behaviour, the hand of justice must be applied.\u201d<\/p>\n
Drawing attention to illegal settler expansion on Palestinian land, the United Kingdom\u2019s delegate called on the Israeli Government to take action to crack down on settler violence, adding that her Government announced yesterday further sanctions against three illegal settler outposts and four organizations to bring accountability to those who perpetrate heinous human rights abuses against Palestinians.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, France\u2019s representative urged Israel to cease projects aiming to criminalize UNRWA\u2019s activities and prevent the Agency from operating in the occupied Palestinian territories, a call also made by the representatives of Malta and Mauritania, who spoke for the Arab Group. \u00a0Voicing support for a reformed Palestinian Authority, he further called on Israel to stop hindering the transfer of revenues to the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n
For her part, the United States\u2019 delegate stressed that \u201cIsrael has a responsibility to do everything possible to avoid civilian casualties, even if Hamas was operating near the hospital in an attempt to use civilians as human shields.\u201d \u00a0Her Government has made clear to the Israeli Government at the highest levels that it must do more to address the intolerable and catastrophic humanitarian crisis in Gaza. \u00a0\u201cA \u2018policy of starvation\u2019 in northern Gaza would be horrific and unacceptable and would have implications under international law and U.S. law,\u201d she emphasized, noting that the Israeli Government has said that this is not their policy. \u00a0\u201cWe will be watching to see that Israel\u2019s actions on the ground match this statement,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
Countering that, the Russian Federation\u2019s delegate called out the United States for its provision of military aid to Israel. \u00a0China\u2019s representative also pointed to reports that Washington, D.C., since October 2023, has provided Israel with more than $17\u00a0billion in military aid. \u00a0The Council must revitalize and safeguard the prospects for a two-State solution, he stressed \u2014 a point also underscored by the representative of Switzerland, Council President for October, who spoke in her national capacity.<\/p>\n
The speaker for the Republic of Korea, alongside Sierra Leone, were among many underscoring the need for a ceasefire, with the former stating: \u00a0\u201cWe must recognize and underscore that the current IDF [Israeli Defense Forces] strategy cannot guarantee the short- and long-term security of Israel.\u201d \u00a0Traumatizing and brutalizing entire generations of Palestinians in Gaza will only exacerbate deep-rooted resentment and hatred, laying the ground for more violence and tragedy in the future, he warned, urging all parties, especially Israel, to recalibrate toward peace.<\/p>\n
Among other speakers who urged implementation of Security Council resolution 2735 (2024) \u2014 the three-phase ceasefire deal to end the war in Gaza, put forth by the United States \u2014 was Ecuador\u2019s representative, who emphasized that political will, not merely expressions of support, are needed.<\/p>\n
\u201cOnly a ceasefire can end this humanitarian catastrophe\u201d, Japan\u2019s representative stated. \u00a0The deal outlined in that resolution would allow for the release of all hostages, immediate ceasefire and the delivery of humanitarian aid to Palestinians at scale. \u00a0\u201cIt has been on the table for months,\u201d he said. \u00a0Echoing Mozambique\u2019s call for intensified diplomatic efforts, he expressed hope that the tireless mediation of the United States, Egypt, and Qatar will persuade the parties to finally accept and implement it immediately.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
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