Anjali Sharma
GG News Bureau
UNITED NATIONS, 27th Oct. World body on Thursday held an emergency special session on the Israel Palestine conflict after a numerous deadlock on getting humanitarian ceasefire at the UNSC as the dire conditions in Gaza strip are growing.
The UN General Assembly will continue its emergency special session on the ongoing Israel-Palestine crisis on Friday.
The emergency session is expected to vote tomorrow on a Jordanian-backed draft resolution on the crisis.
The United States, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Egypt as well as the European Union, the African Union and the League of Arab States are expected to speak on Friday.
The session convened under the “Uniting for Peace” mandate, empowering the Assembly to act when the Security Council is deadlocked over a critical matter of international peace and security
Assembly President Dennis Francis called for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire and the opening of aid corridors to save lives
The State of Palestine spoke first, making a powerful appeal to stop the killing for the sake of “all those who can be saved”
Israel in a powerful address described the brutality of Hamas attacks on Israeli civilians and others, stressed that its siege of Gaza and war against the militant group is to ensure that such “depravity and atrocity never occurs again”
Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, said it will table a resolution to “make a stand for peace”, after Security Council’s repeated failure to reach any consensus
President of the General Assembly Dennis Francis brought Thursday’s emergency session to a close and said it would reconvene at 10 am on Friday.
Ambassador of Mauritania to the UN, Sidi Mohamed Laghdaf spoke on behalf of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation said the absence of any moral, legal, or political consensus has only emboldened the occupying power to carry on with impunity its illegal policy of colonial settlement and annexation.
He pointed to Israel’s years-long blockade, forced displacement of Palestinian civilians, systematic ethnic cleansing, organized acts of terrorism, and desecration of holy places, including Jerusalem’s Al-Aqsa Mosque.
He added that Israel was persisting with its denial of the violation of the inalienable right of people to self-determination and independence. This unacceptable situation must be brought to an end, he said.
Minister of Foreign Affairs of Iran, Hossein Amir-Abdollahian said that it has been three weeks that the international community has been a witness to the “war crime and genocide of the occupying Israeli regime in Gaza and the West Bank of Palestine.”
He said that the US and several European countries sided with Israel and they refer to the Palestinian liberation movement as “terrorists”.
“Unfortunately this is the state of our world today. This is the situation of the Security Council, which was supposed to try to establish world peace and security,” he said.
Mr. Amir-Abdollahian called on the US to work for peace and security and not war against people, women and children, stating “instead of sending rockets, tanks and bombs, to be used against Gaza, the United States should stop supporting genocide in Gaza and Palestine.”
He stressed “I say frankly to the American statesmen who are now managing the genocide in Palestine, that we do not welcome the expansion of war in the region, but I warn if the genocide in Gaza continues, they will not be spared from this fire,”.
“It is our home and West Asia is our region, we do not compromise with any party and any side, and we have no reservation when it comes to our homes’ security.”
He noted that according to Iranian negotiations, Hamas is ready to release civilian prisoners, on the other hand the international community should support the release of 6,000 Palestinians held in Israeli prisons.
Jordan Deputy Prime Minister Ayman Safadi on behalf of the Arab Group said “there is no room for grey areas”.
“We must stand for peace, our human values and the UN Charter,” he said. “History will judge us. Say no to war. Say no to the killing. Call out war crimes.”
He said as the killing continues, the Israeli Government have cabinet members that call for “wiping out Palestinians from the face of this Earth”.
“Israel is making Gaza a hell on Earth,” he said. “The trauma will haunt generations to come.”
Ayman Safadi said Israel must uphold values.
“The right to self-defence is not a right to impunity; Israel cannot remain above the law,” he said.
“Let the guns go silent and let the will to live and let live prevail. Let’s restore faith in the peace process as the only path to ending this conflict once and for all.”
Mr. Safadi said Jordan, on behalf of the Arab Group, will table a draft resolution after the UN Security Council failed to do so again on Wednesday.
“Vote for it; make a stand,” he said.
“Let’s make a collective cry, a cry out against more bloodletting,” he said. “Let’s unite for peace.”
“Make a stand for peace, make a stand for life, make it clear, make it firm,” he said, calling for a moment of silence for all the civilians and innocents who have perished during this war.
Israeli Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan presented a video on a tablet, showed the screen to delegates, and depicted a brutal decapitation with a garden tool against a helpless agricultural worker from Thailand.
“There are no words in any language to describe the evil we just witnessed,” at the hands of a Hamas militant, he said.
He added that it is not describable because it has no place in humankind.
“ISIS was the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria and Hamas is the Islamic State of Gaza. Just as was done with ISIS, Hamas must be no more,” he declared, stating that the goal of Israel is to “completely eradicate Hamas’ capabilities and we will use every means at our disposal to accomplish this.”
“Not for revenge, not for retaliation. But to ensure such depravity and atrocity never occurs again,” ambassador Erdan said.
He said that the 7 October massacre and what ensued “has nothing” to do with the Palestinians, the Arab-Israeli conflict or the Palestinian question.
“This is not a war with the Palestinians, he said.
“Israel is at war with the genocidal jihadist Hamas terror organization. It is the law abiding democracy of Israel against modern day Nazis.”
He noted that Hamas does not care about Palestinian people, peace or dialogue. Its only goal is to “annihilate Israel and murder every single Jew on the face of the Earth.”
Mr. Erdan spoke of the brutal killings of innocent Israeli civilians and intentional targeting of Israeli medical teams that were trying to help the injured during the terror attack. He questioned the “hypocrisy” that there is not a single condemnation of the barbarity against Israelis.
“The hypocrisy is beyond belief,” he stressed.
Palestinian Observer Ambassador Riyad Mansour, recalled Israel’s recent comments in the UN Security Council about how its people are suffering said Palestinians are suffering too. Israel’s representative had called to “release the hostages, then takes two million Palestinians hostage”, he added.
He said there are 1,000 Palestinians killed every day.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour added that nothing can justify war crimes and crimes against humanity.
“Why not feel a sense of urgency to end the killing,” he said. “You are setting us back 80 years by trying to justify what Israel is doing now.”
He said Palestinians have survived decades of occupation, 16 years of a blockade and five wars in Gaza.
Ambassador Riyad Mansour said that the answer to the killing of Israelis and Palestinians is not more killing.
He asked the UN membership to uphold UN principles and keep future generations from the scourge of war.
“The only path forward is justice for the Palestinian people,” he said.
“Vote to stop the killing, vote to stop this madness,” he said.
“Choose justice, not vengeance. Choose peace, not more wars. Vote to put an end to almost three weeks of the worst double standards we have seen in decades. Do not miss this chance. Lives are hanging in the balance. Please, save lives, save lives, save lives.”
Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine said “We are meeting here while Palestinians in Gaza are under the bombs” .
“You are speaking while families are being killed, while hospitals are coming to a halt, while neighborhoods are being destroyed, while people are fleeing from one place to another with no safe place to go.”
“There is no time to mourn,” he said.
He pointed to the rising death toll. “If you do not stop it for all those who have been killed, stop it for all those who can be saved.”
Riyad Mansour cited personal accounts of life on the ground he said humanitarian aid is badly needed. Hospitals are operating without anaesthetics, with doctors and patients alike wondering if help is on the way.
“This time, it’s just too much,” he said.
President of the UNGA Mr. Dennis Francis said he was “deeply disturbed and distraught” at the events unfolding in Israel and Palestine.
“Yet again, we gather amidst the gravest escalation of violence and hostility in the Middle East in decades.”
The violence “must end now”, he declared.
He called for an immediate and unconditional humanitarian ceasefire and the opening of aid corridors.
Francis voiced his condemnation of the attack on Israel by Hamas on 7 October, stated “the brutality of the Hamas assault is shocking and unacceptable and has no place in our world.”
He condemned the indiscriminate targeting of innocent civilians in Gaza and the destruction of critical infrastructure by Israel.
Mr. Francis added that “the ceaseless bombardment of the Gaza Strip by Israel and its consequences are deeply alarming.”
He underscored that the preeminent priority of the collective UN membership “must be to protect and to save civilian lives.”
“All parties to this conflict must abide by international humanitarian law, and immediately create the necessary conditions to allow for an opening of humanitarian corridor to the Gaza Strip,” he said.
He emphasized that urgently needed lifesaving assistance must reach those in need.
PGA praised the work of UN personnel in Gaza, offering condolences to the families of the 35 UNRWA staff members who were killed since the start of the crisis.
Dennis Francis reminded delegates that the emergency session is reconvened after a request by Member States and letters signed by Jordan, Mauritania, Nicaragua and Russia, and Syria.
Members who have not paid their dues aren’t allowed to vote in General Assembly meetings like this, but Mr. Francis agreed by general consent to allow those in arrears a waiver so they can take part.
The 10th Emergency Special Session of the Assembly was held in the morning and 110 speakers are listed on the list.
Under the “Uniting for Peace” landmark resolution, adopted by the General Assembly in 1950, the body can convene an “emergency special session” within 24 hours, should the Security Council “fail to exercise its primary responsibility” for the maintenance of international peace and security.
This tenth Emergency Special Session was convened for the first time in April 1997, after a request from Qatar. It followed a series of Security Council and General Assembly meetings regarding the Israeli decision to build a large housing project in an area of East Jerusalem.
The Session came together last on 13 June 2018 to consider a draft resolution entitled “Protection of the Palestinian civilian population”.
The GA decided to adjourn “temporarily and to authorize the President of the General Assembly at its most recent session to resume its meeting upon request from Member States.”
According to several UN agencies on the ground, critical life saving supplies, fuels to keep hospitals running and drinking water is running out in Gaza.
The Security Council failed to adopt two resolutions on the humanitarian crisis in Gaza.
China and Russia vetoed a United States-led draft resolution and a second Russian-backed resolution failed to secure sufficient votes in favor.
A Russian-led draft resolution calling for an “immediate humanitarian ceasefire” was voted down last Monday by the US and the following Wednesday, the US vetoed a Brazilian-led text that urged “humanitarian pauses” to deliver aid to millions in the Gaza Strip.
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