'Israel' seeks military solution in Gaza, 'disappearing a nation'
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Palestine's envoy to the UN not only raised concerns about the ongoing genocide in Gaza during the UNSC session, but also highlighted the occupation's violence extending to the West Bank and al-Quds.
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Palestinian Ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour speaks during the Security Council meeting at United Nations headquarters, on December 22, 2023. (AP)
"Israel" is seeking to impose a military solution for its ongoing aggression in Gaza by "disappearing a nation," Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour told the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) on Wednesday.
"Israel has unleashed a full-fledged war against the Palestinian people. Israel is seeking to impose a military solution to the conflict by disappearing a nation," Mansour said during the UNSC session.
The diplomat asserted that "Israel's" implementation of "genocide" and "apartheid" has resulted in Palestinians suffering from "disposition, displacement, devastation, destruction, and death" at a scale not experienced since the Nakba, the 1948 "Great Catastrophe" that displaced over 750,000 Palestinians by the establishment of the occupation regime.
"Instead of ending the Nakba, Israeli fascist extremist leaders have decided to try to bring it to its ultimate conclusion: Palestine with no Palestinians," Mansour stated.
Israeli genocide extends to the West Bank and al-Quds
“How can anyone justify sending weapons to an army listed for its crimes against our children, or provide any kind of support to a government that is pursuing annexation and genocide, denying the right of our people to self-determination and denying our nation and those comprising it their right to life?" Mansour asked.
The envoy's statement referenced "Israel's" expansion of occupation and war crime violations in the West Bank and al-Quds, killing around 700 Palestinians, including over 150 children, and wounding 6,000 since October 7.
“It cannot be justified, so no arms, no money, no trade, no shield to help Israel commit its crimes against the Palestinian people. In other words, no complicity,” he added.
Mansour argued that the occupation's ongoing aggression in Gaza, justified as a "security" measure, essentially creates "insecurity" and hinders the establishment of a two-state solution.
"Palestine remains the most important test for the international law-based order, a test it cannot afford to fail," he said, urging for action to be taken against "Israel's" "illegal actions."
Algeria voices its concern for aggression on occupied land
"If we are gathered here today, it is because diplomacy has failed. It is because this Security Council, entrusted with maintaining international peace and security, has not fulfilled its duty," Amar Bendjama, Algeria's permanent UN representative, said at the meeting.
The Algerian diplomat denounced the international community's failure of diplomacy and to take action to prevent the ongoing genocide, and establish a ceasefire where "more than 33,000 Palestinians, half of them women and children, would have been spared."
"There can be no double standard in recognizing suffering," Bendjama said, describing the ongoing Israeli aggression in Gaza and the West Bank as "collective punishment."
He called on the Council to take prompt measures to prevent further escalation and reinforce international law.
UNSC meets to discuss Israeli violations, Gaza polio vaccination
The United Nations Security Council held an emergency meeting in New York to discuss the possibility of a humanitarian truce to ensure the viability of the polio vaccination program in the besieged Gaza Strip, as well as other issues in the Middle East.
Fears of polio spreading among Palestinians in the besieged territory began to rise after a variant of the virus was detected in sewage water in the central Gaza Strip. This came as a direct result of the Israeli occupation's systematic destruction of both the Gaza Strip's water systems and its health sector.
Mike Ryan, an official at the World Health Organization (WHO), told officials at the meeting that the polio campaign should "mark a significant change" to the whole process of aid delivery to the Gaza Strip, which has been significantly hindered by Israeli authorities.
