UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has attacked Israel for violating international humanitarian law as a senior doctor in the besieged territory said Israel is using new “lethal weapons” against civilians in Gaza.
More than 5,700 Palestinians, including mostly civilians, have been killed in Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip, according to Gaza health officials.
Israeli forces have bombed entire neighborhoods in the blockaded area in response to unprecedented Hamas attacks inside Israel on October 7, which killed at least 1,400 people.
Opening a key UNSC session, Guterres said there was no excuse for the “horrible” violence carried out by Hamas on October 7, but he also warned against “collective punishment” of Palestinians.
Without explicitly naming Israel, Guterres said, “I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are seeing in Gaza. Let me be clear: no party to the armed conflict is bound by international humanitarian law. Not up.”
Guterres also said that Hamas attacks “did not occur in a vacuum” as Palestinians “have suffered 56 years of oppressive occupation”.
The UN chief urged an immediate ceasefire as Israel annexes Palestinian territory in response to Hamas attacks and the crisis has deeply divided the Security Council.
Israel expressed anger at the UN chief’s petition ahead of a high-level session of the Security Council, where the Palestinian foreign minister condemned what he called inaction in the conflict, which has killed thousands on both sides, mostly civilians. Were.
His comments infuriated Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who pointed the finger at Guterres and raised his voice, echoing graphic accounts of civilians, including small children, killed in the deadliest single attack in Israel’s history.
“Sir General Secretary, in which world do you live?” Cohen said.
Refusing to link the violence to the occupation, Cohen said Israel had given Gaza to the Palestinians “down to the last millimeter” with its withdrawal in 2005.
Soon after Hamas took power, Israel imposed a blockade of the poor area, and it is still occupying the West Bank.
Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, called on Guterres to resign – writing on X, formerly known as Twitter, that the UN chief has “expressed understanding for terrorism and murder”.
Israel is using ‘new deadly weapons’
Mohammed Abu Salmiya, director general of Gaza City’s Al-Shifa Hospital, says that he has never seen the kind of wounds and injuries that are occurring in the current war.
in an interview with al JazeeraAbu Salmiya said what he described as new types of injuries were likely the result of Israel using “new lethal weapons” against the people of Gaza.
‘Hospitals run out of fuel’
Doctors in Gaza say patients arriving at hospitals after more than 1.4 million fled their homes for makeshift shelters under Israel’s heaviest bombardment to date are at increased risk for the disease caused by overcrowding and poor sanitation. Symptoms are visible.
All hospitals say they are running out of fuel to run their power generators, leaving them unable to treat the wounded and sick. A health ministry spokesman said more than 40 medical centers had halted operations.
UNRWA, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, warned in a post on the messaging platform X that it would halt operations in Gaza on Wednesday night due to fuel shortages.
However, the Israeli military reaffirmed that it would prevent the entry of fuel to prevent Hamas from seizing it.
’16 people martyred in Israeli air strikes’
At least 16 people were martyred and several others were injured following the latest Israeli air strikes on Gaza early Wednesday.
According to the Interior Ministry in Gaza, the Israeli raids hit residential areas in Jabaliya and Tal al-Hawa in the north, al-Nusirat refugee camp in central Gaza, and Khan Younis in the south. al Jazeera.
Guterres, who personally traveled to the crossing between Egypt and Gaza to deliver aid, welcomed the entry of three aid convoys through the Rafah crossing so far.
But Guterres said it was “a drop of aid in an ocean of need”, as the UN agency for Palestinian refugees warned it would be forced to close on Wednesday due to fuel shortages.
“To ease the suffering, facilitate aid delivery and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my appeal for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
Israel, backed by the United States, has rejected calls to halt the offensive, saying it would only allow Hamas to regroup.
Jordan Queen criticizes double standards of Western countries
Queen Rania of Jordan has accused Western leaders of “gross double standards” for failing to condemn the deaths of civilians under Israeli bombardment in Gaza, as Israel’s war on Hamas strained relations between the US and Arab leaders. There is a danger of destabilization.
Speaking to CNN’s Christiane Amanpour in an exclusive interview, Rania said, “The people of the entire Middle East, including Jordan, we are shocked and dismayed by the world’s response to this catastrophe that is unfolding. “In the last few weeks, we have seen a clear double standard in the world.”
“When October 7th happened, the world immediately and clearly stood with Israel and its right to defend itself and condemned that attack… But what we are seeing in the last few weeks, we are seeing silence in the world Are.” He said cnn,
The United States last week vetoed a draft resolution on the crisis, saying it did not sufficiently support Israel’s right to respond to Hamas.
Secretary of State Antony Blinken asked the Security Council to support a new US-led resolution that “includes concrete feedback.”
Draft, viewed by AFP, would protect the “inherent right of all states” to self-defense while calling for compliance with international law. It would support a “humanitarian pause” to deliver aid but not a complete ceasefire.
Veto-wielding Russia – accustomed to being under fire in the Security Council over its invasion of Ukraine – immediately said it would oppose the US draft, which was also criticized by US regional ally Egypt.
