BY UN NEWS
More than a hundred countries are intervening in a Special Emergency Session of the General Assembly seeking a resolution on the crisis in Gaza, after the Security Council has failed four times.
Jordan, representing the group of Arab States, has presented a resolution to the Assembly that, unlike those of the Council, is not binding, but political.
The text calls for an immediate ceasefire and for Israel to rescind the evacuation order from northern Gaza. In addition, it demands the supply of essential goods in the Strip and underlines “the importance of avoiding further destabilization and escalation of violence in the region.”
The Palestinian ambassador was the first to intervene. Riyad Mansour, with trembling hands and voice, denounced that 7,000 Palestinians have died, almost all of them civilians, including 3,000 children, and criticized what he described as double standards in relation to the attacks.
“Compared to the population of Gaza, it is equivalent to 28,000 dead Israelis, including 12,000 children, 6,800 women. 72,000 injured. 6.5 million displaced. Does it seem more moving now, more unacceptable, more scandalous? Why do some feel so much pain for Israelis and so little for us Palestinians?
The Israeli ambassador then criticized the resolution for not condemning Hamas attacks and said it should call for them to surrender and then not another drop of blood would be shed.
“This is not a war with the Palestinians. Israel is at war with the genocidal jihadists of Hamas. Only with them. It is a democracy that is governed by the law against the Nazis of our time,” said Gilad Erdan.
The humanitarian and health crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic proportions, warns the World Health Organization , which assures that it is “an imperative that transcends political borders, to demand unhindered access to provide aid.”
The Organization insists “on immediate and unrestricted access” for humanitarian aid. “Every moment that passes puts countless lives at risk. “The world must tolerate no more impediments to our mission to save those in danger,” they added.
The WHO has supplies waiting on the other side of the Gaza border in Egypt.