Statement delivered by Hon. Hugh Todd, Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation of Guyana, at Security Council Open Debate on 'The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question'
Thank you, Mr. President
I also thank Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland for his briefing.
Mr. President,
The war in Gaza has set several new and unacceptable bars. Among them: a rapid decline in the nutritional status of the population in Gaza not seen elsewhere on the globe; the highest number of humanitarian workers killed in a single conflict globally. Further, more women and children have been killed in this Gaza war than in any other recent conflict in a single year.
We have witnessed too often the tragic irony of sophisticated precision weaponry striking innocent human beings – instead of military targets – women, children, the elderly, the disabled, aid workers – their life cut short, extinguished amidst the rubble of homes, schools, hospitals, and places of worship. More than forty-two thousand persons have been killed and over one hundred thousand injured. Among the dead, at least thirteen thousand children, nearly one thousand of them below the age of one year.
Mr. President,
Guyana remains deeply troubled by the ongoing situation in north Gaza where the population has been under siege and subject to a bombing campaign for more than three weeks. We share the concern of the United Nations Human Rights Office that the Israeli military action in the northernmost governorate of Gaza may be causing the destruction of the Palestinian population. We call on Israel to comply with its obligations under international law regarding the protection of the inhabitants of the territory which it is illegally occupying as determined by the International Court of Justice.
All this is happening in full glare through an unprecedented flow of information – in real time – about the atrocities being perpetrated. The world is today much better positioned than we were thirty years ago, for example, to act based on real-time information. Against this reality, inaction in the face of such overwhelming human suffering, to which we are witness every single day, cannot be justified.
Guyana appeals to this Council to unite to halt the unceasing onslaught of the Palestinians in Gaza and help de-escalate and stabilize the situation in the wider Middle East. To do otherwise would be to abrogate our primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Mr. President,
The hopes for peace of Palestinians are being extinguished even as the risks to peace for Israelis continue to mount. We are concerned that prospects for the future of peace in the Middle East will be further endangered if the persistent cycle of violence and recrimination is not curtailed. We also caution against the perils attendant upon the “othering” of a people, which, as history has shown, could engender the most egregious violations of their human rights. The Security Council, aided by international law, has a duty to act on the side of peace and justice, and in favour of the two-State solution.
Mr. President,
The bills passed in the Israeli Parliament yesterday regarding UNRWA’s (OON-RAH) operations in the Occupied Palestinian territory give cause for grave concern. They risk compounding the oppression of the Palestinian people. Should UNRWA be dismantled, the implications would be devastating for the millions of Palestinians who depend on its lifesaving services in the absence of an independent Palestinian state. UNRWA’s mandate was created by the General Assembly and can therefore only be altered by that body. We urge careful consideration by all concerned of the implications of unilateral action in this sensitive case.
Mr. President,
I conclude by underscoring the following three points.
First, achieving a ceasefire is now more urgent than ever and the Security Council must immediately rise to the occasion.
Second, it is equally urgent to secure the release of Israeli hostages in Gaza as well as the release of Palestinian civilians, including children, who have been arbitrarily detained in Israel.
Third, we must urgently address the unprecedented humanitarian situation in Gaza. Guyana is particularly disturbed about what is taking place in north Gaza where the level of food insecurity is compromising people’s immune systems, subjecting them to wasting and other intolerable forms of suffering. Children are bearing the brunt of acute malnutrition and famine is all but confirmed.
Let’s act now to end this war and the suffering of the Palestinian people. Our common humanity demands it.
I thank you.
