We won't accept ignoring genocide against Palestinians: Diaz-Canel

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies + Al Mayadeen
29 Oct 2023 01:45
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The Cuban President expresses his country's strong condemnation of the Israeli shelling of innocent people in Gaza.

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel addresses the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Tuesday, Sept. 19, 2023, at United Nations headquarters (AP Photo/Mary Altaffer)

Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel recalled on Saturday the words of the historic leader of the Cuban Revolution, Fidel Castro Ruz, 63 years ago, in his historic speech before the United Nations General Assembly.

"From the beginning of human history, wars have arisen, fundamentally, for one reason: some people's desire to deprive others of their riches. Let the philosophy of plunder disappear, and the philosophy of war will have disappeared."

Diaz-Canel pointed out that "this broad and deep idea summarizes the reason for the suffering of the Palestinian people today, who are besieged under a new apartheid system of racial segregation on a small piece of land."

The Cuban President expressed his belief that "the philosophy of depriving others of their rights is what is causing a humanitarian catastrophe of terrifying dimensions today."

#Cuban President Miguel Diaz-Canel told #AlMayadeen that over 3,000 children and 1,700 women have been killed in Gaza due to the ongoing Israeli aggression on the #Gaza Strip.

Diaz-Canel pointed out that the United States used its veto power in the #UN Security Council against… pic.twitter.com/MlbpKBUnd6
— Al Mayadeen English (@MayadeenEnglish) October 28, 2023

He pointed to the number of Palestinian martyrs, stating that more than 3,000 children and 1,700 women have been killed in recent weeks.

He added that thousands are still trapped under the rubble more than 40% of Gaza's homes have been reduced to rubble, and the Strip's hospitals have been turned into makeshift morgues.

Diaz-Canel expressed his country's strong condemnation of the shelling of innocent people in Gaza and the destruction of their homes, hospitals, and civilian infrastructure, saying, "We reject the killing of innocent people as a result of the current escalation and fierce and indiscriminate aggression, without distinction of race, origin, gender, or belief."

"We will not accept any selective indignation that seeks to ignore the danger of the genocide that is being perpetrated against the Palestinians, portray the Israeli side as the victim, and ignore 75 years of aggression, occupation, violations, and exclusion," he stressed.

The Cuban leader indicated that "nothing can justify what the Israeli army is doing in Gaza, and nothing can justify the serious violations of international humanitarian law being committed." While Diaz-Canel pointed out that "Israel violates all United Nations resolutions and all commitments imposed on it as an occupying power as stipulated in the Fourth Geneva Convention," he recalled how "the Security Council was unable to call on Israel to stop the ongoing massacre, as the United States used the veto right."

"Those who oppose stopping the violence in Gaza today and refuse to consider it a matter of utmost priority will bear the grave consequences that will result from that," he added.

According to the Cuban President, "The comprehensive, just, and permanent solution to the conflict undoubtedly requires the real exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the establishment of their independent and sovereign state within the borders of pre-1967, with its capital in East al-Quds."

He also confirmed that a group of countries, including his own, proposed a draft resolution to the United Nations General Assembly, which was recently approved, demanding an immediate ceasefire, the establishment of an urgent mechanism to protect Palestinian civilians, rejecting the displacement of civilians and human rights defenders, and the provision of emergency humanitarian aid.

"Every moment of procrastination and passivity will cost the loss of more innocent lives, and action must be taken immediately," he warned.

It is noteworthy that since the start of the savage Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip, Cuba has expressed its deep concern about the situation, stressing that this escalation comes as a result of 75 years of permanent violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and of "Israel's" aggressive and expansionist policy.

The Cuban Foreign Ministry has underlined that the United Nations Security Council must fulfill its obligations and put an end to the impunity of "Israel", the occupier, through the historical complicity of the United States that repeatedly obstructs the work of the UNSC, undermining peace, security, and stability in the Middle East region.

This comes as the Israeli occupation continues its brutal aggression on Gaza for the 22nd day in a row after it completely cut internet access and the phone network across the Strip on Friday, with the Health Ministry in Gaza announcing that the number of Palestinians killed has risen to 7,703 and that the number of injuries has reached 19,743.

The Ministry emphasized that the Israeli occupation has committed 53 massacres in the past 24 hours, in which 377 Gazans were killed, most of them among the displaced in the southern Gaza Strip, which "Israel" claimed to be "safe" from shelling.

The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk warned on Saturday there was the potential for thousands more civilians to die if "Israel" launches a major ground invasion into Gaza.