The “violations of the law of war” committed by Hamas “do not absolve Israel of its own violations,” the UN secretary general has insisted.
“The people of Gaza are looking into the abyss,” UN Secretary General António Guterres told the Security Council today, in an exceptional session in which he asked them to act to stop the war in Gaza, which has left and 17,000 Palestinians dead, in addition to the 1,200 Israelis.
“The eyes of the world, and of History, are watching (towards the Council). It is time to act“Guterres has insisted, when it is not even clear that a new resolution can be voted today to request a ceasefire in the face of reluctance mainly from the United States, with the right to veto.
“The international humanitarian law cannot be applied selectively. It is binding on all parties equally and at all times and the obligation to respect it does not depend on reciprocity,” he recalled in this session requested by him, invoking in an extraordinary way article 99 of the UN Charter, which allows the Secretary General address the council in case of serious security threat.
The “violations of the law of war“that Hamas committed “does not absolve Israel of its own violations,” he has reaffirmed
The situation in Gaza “may result in a complete collapse of public order, while pressure grows for mass displacement towards Egypt, (but) I fear that the consequences could be devastating for the entire region,” Guterres warned.
Guterres recalled that 60% of the homes are destroyed or damaged, which has forced the displacement of 85% of the population: “The people of Gaza are told to move like flasks, bouncing from place to place, smaller and smaller, without any of the basic needs to survive.”
He once again recalled the scale of destruction in Gaza: 339 school facilities, 26 hospitals, 56 health centers, 88 mosques and three churches destroyed after “attacks by land, sea and air”.
Source: Eitb
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