UNITED NATIONS, US
UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres on Tuesday alleged violations of international law in Gaza and urged an immediate cease-fire as Israel pounds the Palestinian territory in response to Hamas attacks, with the crisis deeply dividing the Security Council.
Israel voiced anger over the
UN chief’s plea before a high-level session of the Security Council, where the
Palestinian foreign minister in turn denounced what he described as inaction in
the conflict that has killed thousands on both sides, mostly civilians.
Opening the session, Guterres
said there was no excuse for the “appalling” violence by Hamas militants on
October 7 but also warned against “collective punishment” of the Palestinians.
“I am deeply concerned about
the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing
in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international
humanitarian law,” Guterres told a Security Council session, without explicitly
naming Israel.
Guterres said that the
Palestinians had been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation,”
telling the Security Council: “It is important to also recognize the attacks by
Hamas did not happen in a vacuum.”
His remarks infuriated Israeli
Foreign Minister Eli Cohen who, pointing his finger at Guterres and raising his
voice, recounted graphic accounts of civilians killed on October 7 in the
deadliest single attack in Israeli history.
“Mr Secretary-General, in what
world do you live?” Cohen said.
Pointing out that Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, Cohen said, “We gave the
Palestinians Gaza till the last millimeter. There is no dispute in regards to
the land of Gaza.”
Israel shortly afterward
imposed a blockade of the impoverished territory in place ever since after
Hamas took power.
Israel’s ambassador to the
United Nations, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign, writing on X,
formerly known as Twitter, that the UN chief has “expressed an understanding
for terrorism and murder.”
Hamas militants stormed into
Israel on October 7 and attacked largely civilian targets including families
and a music festival, killing at least 1,400 people and taking more than 220
hostages, according to Israeli officials.
More than 5,700 Palestinians
have been killed across the Gaza Strip in retaliatory Israeli bombardments, the
territory’s Hamas-run health ministry said.
Guterres, who personally
traveled to the crossing between Egypt and Gaza in a push to let in assistance,
welcomed the crossing of three aid convoys so far through the Rafah crossing.
“But it is a drop of aid in an
ocean of need,” Guterres said, warning that UN fuel supplies will run out
within days.
“To ease epic suffering, make
the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I
reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian cease-fire.”
The Security Council session
is bringing together top diplomats including Secretary of State Antony Blinken,
who has previously rejected calls for a cease-fire, saying it would only allow
Hamas to regroup.
The United States last week
vetoed a draft resolution on the crisis, saying it did not sufficiently support
Israel’s right to self-defense.
Blinken told the Security
Council that the United States was putting forward a new resolution that
“incorporates substantive feedback.”
He questioned why there was
not more outrage over the killings of Israelis.
“We must affirm the right of
any nation to defend itself and to prevent such harm from repeating itself. No
member of this Council, no nation in this entire body, could or would tolerate
the slaughter of its people,” Blinken said.
The Palestinian Authority’s
foreign minister Riyad Al-Maliki, a rival of Hamas, denounced inaction by the
Security Council.
“The ongoing massacres being
deliberately and systematically and savagely perpetrated by Israel — the
occupying power against the Palestinian civilian population under illegal
occupation — must be stopped,” he said.
“It is our collective human
duty to stop them,” he said. “Continued failure at this council is
inexcusable.”
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