2023-10-24 14:47:05
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has clearly criticized Israel for its attack on the Gaza Strip. “Protecting civilians does not mean ordering more than a million people to evacuate to the south, where there is no shelter, no food, no water, no medicine and no fuel, and then continuing to bomb the south itself,” said Guterres at a high-level meeting of the World Security Council on Tuesday in New York.
Apparently directed at Hamas fighters, the UN chief also condemned the use of bystanders as human shields. “I am deeply concerned regarding the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza,” said Guterres. No party to the conflict is above international humanitarian law.
Guterres once once more strongly condemned the attacks on Israel by the Islamist Hamas, saying there was no justification for them. But he also said: “It is important to recognize that Hamas’ attacks did not take place in a vacuum.”
The Palestinian people have been subjected to oppressive occupation for 56 years. It has seen its country decimated by settlements and ravaged by violence. It has seen people displaced and houses destroyed, said Guterres. The Hamas attacks cannot justify the “collective punishment of the Palestinian people,” said Guterres.
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