UNSC holds emergency session as Palestinian envoy warns of Gaza “agony”
Riyad Mansour urges immediate action over reported Israeli plan to seize Gaza City; UN officials and diplomats caution of catastrophic fallout
New York, PUREWILAYAH.COM — At an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Sunday, Palestinian UN ambassador Riyad Mansour urged the Council to act to halt the worsening crisis in Gaza, warning that “history will judge us all” if the international community fails to intervene. He said Palestinians are enduring “unbearable agony” and accused Israel of pursuing forced displacement and mass killings with the aim of annexing Palestinian land.
The session was convened in response to reports of an Israeli plan to occupy Gaza City and relocate large numbers of civilians to the south. Mansour disputed Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that there is no starvation in Gaza and called for international journalists to be allowed into the territory to independently assess conditions. He also criticised what he described as Israeli disregard for the fate of captives held in Gaza amid ongoing protests inside Israel.
UN assistant secretary‑general Miroslav Jenca warned the Council that any move to take control of Gaza City risked triggering “another calamity,” with further displacement, killings, and destruction that could reverberate across the region. Slovenia’s UN ambassador, Samuel Žbogar, said the decision would not aid the safe return of captives and could increase the risks to their lives, while further worsening an already dire humanitarian situation.
Palestinian factions cast the reported plan as evidence of Israeli political and operational crisis. In Israel, protesters gathered outside the prime minister’s office in Jerusalem demanding an end to the war in exchange for the release of captives.
Mansour said the Palestinian side is prepared to work with the United States, Saudi Arabia, France, and other regional and international partners, alongside the Security Council, to end the war. Since October 7, 2023, at least 61,369 Palestinians have been killed and more than 152,850 injured in Gaza, according to figures cited by Palestinian sources. (PW)
Source: PressTv