The commissioner-general of the main UN agency in Palestine told the UN Security Council that the entire population of Gaza had been “deprived of their humanity”, saying the ceasefire had become a matter of life and death for millions.
Philippe Lazzarini, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, was one of three speakers who starkly described the extent of the damage in Gaza, as UN agencies intensified pressure on the Security Council to put aside its divisions and support some form of immediate humanitarian ceasefire.
Speakers detailed the collapse of civil order, the loss of clean water, and a child mortality rate that matches the number of children killed in conflict in the past four years.
The debate called by the UAE was intended to build on the momentum created by the UN General Assembly’s vote on Friday to call for a humanitarian truce, a vote seen as a way to embarrass the great powers into abandoning their arguments for not supporting some form of peace. cease-fire.
The veto power has been used against four previous draft UN Security Council resolutions on the crisis by Russia or the United States. Now efforts are being made by the ten elected members of the Security Council – including Brazil, the current President of the Security Council – to develop a framework for a resolution that the five permanent members might feel compelled to adopt.
Lazzarini accused Israel of practicing “collective punishment” of Gazans, forcing them to move from the north of the Strip to the south – where they are still unsafe.
More than 8,000 Palestinians have been killed so far in the Israeli attack, and Lazzarini said that including 64 UNRWA employees.
He said that a UN employee named Samir, as well as Samir’s wife and eight children, were killed just hours before the meeting.
The Swiss-Italian official said: “My colleagues in UNRWA are the only ray of hope for the entire Gaza Strip… but they are running out of fuel, water, food and medicine, and soon they will not be able to work.”
The proposed Security Council resolution – which would be legally binding if passed – is likely to be published in the next few days. But Russia and the United States remain far apart, with Russia demanding that the United States support a complete ceasefire, which it had previously refused to do.
UAE Ambassador Lana Zaki Nusseibeh said that the Council may be completely broken if it ignores the will of most countries in the world expressed by the General Assembly vote.
She said that there were 76 attacks on health care facilities in Gaza and 20 hospitals were damaged. “Let me be clear, these sites are protected under international law,” she said, adding that warnings before the attacks did not change the protective status of hospitals.
She said that the dangerous and unrealistic evacuation orders must end, describing them as “cruel and reckless, as well as our delay as a security council.”
She continued: “The drums of war are beating.” Taking these warnings seriously begins with stopping this war in Gaza. We do not serve Israel’s security by enabling it to continue. We cannot reverse the heinous October 7 attacks by Hamas by turning a blind eye to this war in which civilians are paying the price.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, the US ambassador, said she supports a ceasefire on humanitarian grounds to allow hostages to leave, to allow foreign nationals to leave, and to allow safe passage of civilians.
Lazzarini said there was no safe place in Gaza, and warned that further collapse of civil order in the Strip would make it “extremely difficult if not impossible” to provide more aid.
“Most Gazans have felt abandoned. They feel that the world equates them all with Hamas. This is dangerous – an entire people are being stripped of their humanity. The atrocities committed by Hamas do not absolve the State of Israel of its obligations under international humanitarian law. “Every war has its own rights,” he said. Rules and this war is no exception.”
Lisa Dowton, a senior UN relief official, said more than one border crossing is needed to deliver aid to the besieged Gaza Strip, but the Kerem Shalom crossing, controlled by Israel, is the only one equipped to accommodate enough trucks.
Aid trucks flowed into Gaza from Egypt last week through Rafah, the main crossing that is not located on the border with Israel.
“More than one entry point into Gaza is indispensable if we are to make a difference – the Kerem Shalom crossing, between Israel and Gaza, is the only crossing equipped to quickly handle a large enough number of trucks.”
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