Algerian envoy to UN denounces Israel's 'methodical' actions in Gaza as 'genocide'

HAMILTON, Canada

UN envoys from Algeria, Pakistan and Palestine condemned Israel’s actions in the Gaza Strip during a Security Council meeting Tuesday, pointing to famine, mass civilian suffering and violations of international law.

"What we are witnessing is not erratic. It is methodical. Call it what it is: genocide," Algeria's UN envoy Amar Bendjama told the Council when describing the situation in Gaza.

"No silence can justify it. Future generations will ask, Where were you? Where were you when Gaza was starving? In the Security Council?" he said.

Bendjama referred to testimony shared at the session by a relative of an Israeli hostage, saying: "His brother should never have stayed in captivity if the ceasefire in Gaza was not abruptly breached by the Israeli occupying power."

He criticized Israel for denying the famine and blocking essential supplies and noted that it is "the same occupying power that cut off food, water, electricity and medicine in Gaza."

"What has been allowed very recently into Gaza as humanitarian relief is a drop in the ocean of need. Airdrops are not the solution," Bendjama said, adding that "malnutrition is rampant among all people in Gaza, including, unfortunately, those in captivity. The reality long denied by the Israeli occupying power has never been a secret to anyone."

Stressing that access to humanitarian aid is a legal obligation under the Geneva Conventions, he said: "It's not a favor. It is not negotiable. It cannot be used as a bargaining chip in exchange for those held in captivity."

"Injustice must never, never be normalized. It cannot become the new ordinary," he said.

Pakistan's envoy Asim Iftikhar Ahmed condemned Israel's actions as "grave breaches of international law," highlighting widespread detentions and abuses.

"Nothing can justify the indiscriminate killings, the starvation of an entire population, the collective punishment," Ahmed said.

"Around 9,500 Palestinians, including hundreds of children and women, are currently imprisoned – around one-third without charge or trial. This is a profound violation of basic human rights, and again, totally unacceptable," he said.

He noted that Palestinian children have been killed "at a rate of more than one per hour" since October 2023 and called for "an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire, full Israeli withdrawal, the release of hostages and unimpeded humanitarian access."

"We must not lose sight of the root cause of this ongoing tragedy, and that is Israel's prolonged illegal occupation of Palestinian territory," he stressed, reaffirming that "peace will remain elusive" as long as occupation exists.

Palestinian envoy Riyad Mansour said that Israel is starving civilians while demanding sympathy for its captives and noted that peace depends on ending the ongoing Israeli assault.

"Israel is demanding that the world take a stance against starvation when it is actually starving an entire civilian population," he said.

Stressing that "peace starts with ending the war in Gaza," Mansour continued by noting that "peace will prevail once Palestinian rights are fulfilled and the Palestinian state is independent."

He noted that Palestinians and Israelis are not meant to be in "eternal wars" and said: "Palestinians are not destined to endure occupation, displacement and dispossession forever."

"It is the realization of the independence and sovereignty of the Palestinian state, not its destruction," that will bring peace, he added.