New York: Europe and the Arabs
The UN Security Council held a ministerial meeting on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, during which it heard a briefing from the Secretary-General of the United Nations on the implementation of Council Resolution No. 2712, which called for the establishment of urgent truces and humanitarian corridors extending throughout the Gaza Strip and immediate and unconditional release. For all the hostages. According to what was stated in the daily United Nations news bulletin, a copy of which we received at dawn today
United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres noted that “more than 1,200 people were killed in Israel, including 33 children, and thousands were injured according to the Israeli authorities,” as a result of the horrific attacks committed by Hamas on October 7, in addition to the kidnapping of 250 people, including 34 children. .
Guterres spoke about the many testimonies about sexual violence occurring during the attacks, stressing the need to investigate this and prosecute those responsible. The Secretary-General stressed the need to "condemn gender-based violence at any time and place."
Regarding Gaza, the Secretary-General said that more than 14,000 people have been killed, according to the de facto authorities, since the beginning of Israeli military operations in the Strip. Tens of thousands of Palestinians were injured, and many are still missing. He said that children and women represented more than two-thirds of the dead.
He added: “In a matter of weeks, more children have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza than the total number of children killed in any year by any party to the conflicts since I assumed the position of Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
While the Security Council resolution requests the Secretary-General to identify options for effectively monitoring the implementation of the resolution, Guterres said at a meeting yesterday, Wednesday, that he had formed a working group to urgently prepare proposals in this regard. The group consists of the Department of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs, the Department of Peace Operations, the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and the Office of Legal Affairs.
The Secretary-General stated that the people of Gaza are living “in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world, and we must not look away.” He welcomed the ongoing negotiations to extend the truce, and stressed the need for a real ceasefire for humanitarian reasons.
He stressed the need to provide a horizon of hope for the peoples of the region by moving decisively and irreversibly on the path of a two-state solution. He said that failure to do so would condemn the Palestinians, Israelis, the region and the world to live in an endless cycle of death and destruction.
For his part, Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad Al-Maliki stressed that the current truce in Gaza must be transformed into a complete and comprehensive ceasefire, stressing that what the Strip witnessed “is not a war, but a massacre that no one or thing can justify.” Before the Security Council, Al-Maliki asked: How many times can the world “afford to fail the test of humanity in Gaza and in Palestine?”
While Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi stressed the need for the international community to take more active steps to save lives and restore peace in Palestine and Israel by first working to reach a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire “with the utmost urgency.”
Meanwhile, Mr. Khalifa Shaheen, Minister of State of the United Arab Emirates, affirmed his country’s condemnation in the strongest terms of what he described as “the Israeli policy of collective punishment” against the Palestinian people, expressing its rejection of “attempts to displace the Palestinians.” Shaheen added that the future of Gaza and its administration must remain in the hands of the Palestinian people, and any hypotheses or plans that seek to separate the Gaza Strip from the State of Palestine cannot be accepted.
For his part, Russian Ambassador Vasily Nebenzia said that the current conflict taking place in the Middle East has catastrophic proportions, and "it is not an exaggeration to say that it has become one of the most deadly regional conflicts in recent decades."
While Sheikh Mohammed bin Abdul Rahman Al Thani, Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs of the State of Qatar, said that the Palestinian people witnessed seven disastrous weeks that included serious violations of international law, and after he referred to the armistice agreement, the Qatari Prime Minister and Foreign Minister expressed the hope that what would be built upon would be achieved. It has achieved so far to achieve a comprehensive and sustainable agreement to “stop the war and bloodshed.”
Meanwhile, Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry stressed that the concept of “self-defense” cannot apply to serious violations of international humanitarian law in Gaza. He said that the Israeli approach over more than 50 days in the Gaza Strip can only be explained as a deliberate policy to make life in the Strip impossible. As for Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan, he said that the truce does not absolve Israel of its responsibilities under international law and international humanitarian law.
He added that what he described as flimsy pretexts for self-defense are "unacceptable and unreasonable in light of the humanitarian tragedies repeated on a daily basis in the Gaza Strip."
On the other hand, Israel's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said that the war "could end tomorrow and even today, if Hamas returns all the hostages and hands over all the terrorists who participated in the massacre." In his speech before the ministerial meeting of the Security Council, he indicated that it is possible to reach a real ceasefire that will last for decades, adding: “Ask this from Hamas. This is the solution.” Erdan said that after nearly two months, "it is shocking that Hamas's brutal crimes have yet to be condemned by this or any other UN body."
The United States Ambassador to the United Nations, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, said that much of the hard diplomatic work takes place behind closed doors, and while she noted the importance of the work of the Security Council, she stressed that “often, progress occurs outside its hall,” adding that the humanitarian truce in Gaza Which entered its sixth day, would not have happened without the leadership of Qatar, Egypt and the United States