Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour has appealed to the Security Council to condemn the loss of more than 100 Palestinian lives and injury of nearly 700 individuals in an Israeli attack on a crowd waiting for food in Gaza City.
“The Security Council should say enough is enough,” Riyad Mansour told reporters on Thursday ahead of a closed-door meeting by the body, which came at the request of Algeria.
The meeting was held to discuss Israel’s targeting of civilians awaiting humanitarian aid in Gaza. The health ministry in the besieged coastal territory said 112 people were killed in the attack and another 760 injured.
“This outrageous massacre is a testimony to the fact that as long as the Security Council is paralyzed and vetoes (are) casted, then it is costing the Palestinian people their lives,” Mansour said.
The Palestinian ambassador to the UN went on to note that 14 members of the 15-member Security Council have “supported” a draft declaration put forth by Algeria, which expresses “deep concern” over the latest episode in Gaza and states that the situation is “due to opening fire by Israeli forces.”
Mansour said he met earlier in the day with US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
“I implored her that the Security Council has to produce a product of condemning this killing and to go after those responsible for this massacre,” he said.
If the Security Council has “a spine and determination to put an end to these massacres from happening all over again, what we need is a ceasefire,” the Palestinian diplomat pointed out.
UN chief denounces murder of Palestinians waiting for aid
Meanwhile, UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres condemned Israeli forces for opening fire on starving Palestinians waiting for humanitarian aid south of Gaza City.
“The Secretary-General condemns the incident today in northern Gaza in which more than a hundred people were reportedly killed or injured while seeking life-saving aid,” Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for Antonio Guterres, said in a briefing.
Dujarric reiterated Guterres’ demand for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and said the UN chief “once again calls for urgent steps so that critical humanitarian aid can get into and across Gaza to all those in need.”
“The continued hostilities and other challenges continue to impede our efforts to reach civilians in Gaza with life-saving health and nutrition care,” Dujarric noted.
Israel’s targeting of aid seekers ‘evidence’ of intent to wipe out Palestinians
Turkey also said the Israeli assault on an aid convoy in Gaza City’s al-Rasheed Street shows that the regime intends to “destroy the entire Palestinian population.”
“The fact that Israel, which has been using starvation as a weapon of war in Gaza, is now targeting innocent civilians who are seeking life-saving aid is evidence of Israel’s intention to destroy the entire Palestinian population,” the Turkish Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Israel has “committed yet another crime against humanity” with the mass shooting of aid seekers, the ministry said, warning that “the atrocity in Gaza is about to become a global catastrophe with repercussions far beyond the region.
“We therefore call on all those with influence over Israel to stop the ongoing violence in Gaza.”
The Turkish Foreign Ministry finally called on Israel to end its military operations in Gaza immediately, arguing that the regime does not have the common sense or the conscience to take the decision though.
Israel waged its brutal war on Gaza on October 7 after the Palestinian Hamas resistance group carried out Operation Al-Aqsa Storm against the usurping entity in retaliation for its intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
According to Gaza Health Ministry, more than 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed in aerial and ground strikes.
The Tel Aviv regime has imposed a “complete siege” on the territory, cutting off fuel, electricity, food and water to the more than two million Palestinians living there.
