Peace Will Come with Compromise Once All Understand Terrible Cost of Conflict in Region Marked by Suffering, General Assembly Told in Emergency Session
Gaza Becoming ‘Mass Grave’, Say Speakers as Middle East Meeting Enters Third Day
The General Assembly today continued its emergency session on the situation in the Middle East, with many Member States echoing urgent calls for a humanitarian ceasefire and the provision of adequate aid to civilians in Gaza.
The 193-member Assembly resumed its tenth emergency special session on the “Illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory”. On Friday, it adopted a resolution calling for an immediate and sustained humanitarian truce leading to a cessation of hostilities. It failed, however, to adopt a text unequivocally rejecting and condemning the terrorist attacks by Hamas in Israel on 7 October. (See Press Release GA/12548.)
The representative of Yemen said that in the last few weeks more than 7,000 “martyrs have fallen” including 3,400 children and 2,500 women. The failure of the international community to stop this war is a “moral” one. “What happened on 7 October 2023, is the result of continued Israeli occupation over the course of 75 years,” he said. A just and comprehensive peace is the only way to end this conflict and establish an independent and sovereign Palestinian State based on the borders of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital. “Without this solution, the region will know no stability,” he warned.
The representative of Lebanon said that some Security Council members have decided to grant time to Israel to complete the military battle as if 75 years of conflict was not enough. “We must show our unity to reach an immediate ceasefire and to end the senseless aggression,” he added, urging the opening of safe corridors to deliver basic goods for the relief of civilians in besieged Gaza, rescue the wounded and save the lives that can be saved.
“The ongoing Israeli attacks on Lebanon, affecting peaceful villages along the border, have forced more than 20,000 Lebanese to flee their homes,” he continued, adding that the use of internationally banned substances like white phosphorus is a flagrant violation of international law. “We call on the international community to pressure Israel to stop its destructive aggression and repeated violations and its constant fraud,” he said. The world is facing two choices — either remain silent about the transformation of Gaza into a mass grave of more than 2 million Palestinians or immediately stop this war and start the path to a political solution.
The representative of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea said that crimes against humanity being committed against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip must be stopped immediately. The crisis is an inevitable result of illegal acts by Israel in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Some countries are aggravating the situation by “disguising Israel as a victim” and justifying its military aggression as self-defence. Due to the United States' one-sided support for Israel, the international community’s efforts to end the armed conflict, save the lives of a great number of innocent people and defuse the militarily tense situation in the Middle East have failed, he said.
The representative of Bolivia said that the lives of Palestinian people have the same value as all citizens of the world. Israel, as an occupying Power, has decided to apply collective punishment to the civilians in Gaza, leaving the population without food, fuel, electricity or medicines. The false arguments of the state of Israel, painting itself as a victim, can no longer be sustained, he said. “We cannot continue to watch indifferently,” he said, adding that Bolivia has decided to break diplomatic relations with Israel.
The representative of Spain said that Israel and the rest of the international community have a duty to protect the civilian population of Palestine and to enable access to humanitarian aid and supplies to the population of Gaza, especially drinking water, food, medicine and fuel. Spain has expressed its great concern about the situation of more than 200 hostages, including one Spanish citizen, she said, adding that the taking of hostages is a war crime.
The representative of Sierra Leone said that if concerted action is not taken and fast, the conflict has great potential to spill over in a region already marked by mass displacement. He called for concerted efforts to explore diplomatic and political avenues to find a lasting resolution to this conflict.
The representative of Canada recalled introducing the amendment to the resolution to ensure the Assembly acknowledged that this situation arose following an unconscionable terrorist attack by Hamas on Israeli civilians on 7 October. Canada is pleased that over half of the voting members of the Assembly felt the same way but regrets that its amendment did not pass. It, therefore had abstained on the resolution. Hostages currently held by Hamas — be they Canadian, Israeli, Thai, American, Argentinian, Chinese or Russian — must be released. More than 400 Canadian nationals and permanent residents are trapped in Gaza, and they must be permitted to leave, he stressed.
“Canadians weep for the over 3,200 children killed in Gaza in the last three weeks, just as we weep for the Israeli children lost on or since 7 October,” he said. Talk of the “two State solution” is empty unless accompanied by the end of the violent rhetoric of absolutism. “Peace will only come with a willingness to compromise, and that will only happen once all parties understand the deep risks and terrible costs of the current confrontation,” he said. It is possible to fully and strongly support Israel's right to exist while criticizing certain Israeli policies. It is possible to fully and strongly support Palestinian self-determination while designating Hamas as a terrorist organization.
As the meeting drew to a close, Thailand’s representative, speaking in exercise of the right of reply, objected to Israel’s representative showing a video on his tablet at last Thursday’s emergency session with footage of a victim, asserted to be Thai, being inhumanely killed. “Thailand is gravely concerned over the fate of our innocent Thai citizens caught in the conflict,” he said. However, it disapproves of the display of such graphic and gruesome footage which does not afford the proper respect and due consideration for the deceased and his family. It was inappropriate and insensitive, and it is unfortunate that it took place in this very Hall. He hopes such a display will not happen again and that the United Nations will help to prevent it.