Angry rejection by Israel and the US of draft resolution demanding an end to illegal occupation of territories
▲ A Palestinian woman takes shelter under a tent amid the rubble of a destroyed house in the Jabaliya refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip.Photo Xinhua
Reuters, Europa Press and AFP
The newspaper La Jornada
Wednesday, September 18, 2024, p. 25
Geneva. United Nations (UN) human rights experts have criticised most Western countries for continuing to support Israel despite what they described as a genocide in Gaza that could turn Israel into a state. pariahMeanwhile, at least 20 Palestinians were killed yesterday in another bombing of the Al Bureij refugee camp in the centre of the strip.
It is scandalous that, in the face of the abyss that has been reached in the occupied Palestinian territories, the majority of member states have remained inactive, at best, or have actively aided and abetted Israel’s criminal conduct.commented Francesca Albanese, UN Special Rapporteur on human rights in Palestine, the day before yesterday.
Israel denies accusations of genocide and says it takes steps to reduce harm to civilians, saying a third of the dead in Gaza were militants.
A spokesman for the Gaza Civil Defense said that personnel from that organization were attacked by Israeli troops while trying to rescue dozens of wounded and people trapped under the rubble, after a bombardment hit several homes.
Palestinian authorities announced that the death toll has risen to 41,200 people in Gaza and more than 690 in the reoccupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, in actions by security forces and attacks by Israeli settlers since the start of the war 11 months ago.
Since then, an average of five Palestinian children have been killed or injured every day in the West Bank, according to the charity Save the Children.
Meanwhile, UN member states will vote yesterday on a draft resolution that demands to Israel put an end without delay to their unlawful presence in the Palestinian territories within a period maximum of 12 monthsa text that provoked the anger of Tel Aviv yesterday, when the debate took place.
In July, in response to a General Assembly inquiry into the Israeli occupation since 1967, the International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled that Israel’s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territories is unlawful and noted that Israel has the obligation to put an end to this situation as soon as possible possible.
“The idea is to use the pressure of the international community in the General Assembly and the pressure of the historic decision of the ICJ to force Israel to change its attitude,” said the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour.
We are gathered here to watch the Palestinian circus at the UN, a circus in which evil is just, war is peace, murder is justified.said Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon.
Palestinians want to live, not survive. They want to be safe in their homes.Mansour said yesterday, at the beginning of the debate.
The United States representative to the organization, Linda Thomas-Greenfield, criticized the inflammatory language from the text and noted that it does not mention that Hamas, a terrorist organization, is in power in Gaza.