NEW YORK, Friday, December 8, 2023 (WAFA) - Addressing the UNSC emergency meeting on Gaza, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the UN, Riyad Mansour, stressed that if anyone says they are against the destruction and displacement of Palestinian people, they have to be in favor of an immediate ceasefire.

He outlined the impact of the strikes by Israel, saying the bombardment “placed every possible impediment on humanitarian aid and access.”

“And we are all supposed to pretend that this aggression is not aimed at the destruction of the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip when it has besieged and bombed our people and deprived them of all requirements of life?” he questioned.

“I keep reading in the media that Israel has no clear war objectives, are we supposed to pretend that we don’t know the objective is the ethnic cleansing of the Gaza Strip?” he continued.

Regarding calls made for a ceasefire, he said: “When you refuse to call for a ceasefire, you are refusing to call for the only thing that can put an end to war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. This is how Israel is conducting the war, through atrocities.”

Mansour noted that the aim of the war by Israel is not security, but to “prevent forever any prospect of Palestinian impudence and peace”.

“These intentions are clear in the Gaza Strip as well as in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem,” he said.

He further underscored the universality of international law, stating that “Israeli exceptionalism has to end, and it has to end now."

“Stop rewriting international law to fit Israeli crimes and stop calling for respect for international law while supporting an assault that has torn it into shreds,” he said.

“The Palestinian people will not die in vain, the Palestinian people deserve respect … we have earned it, we have paid the heaviest price to end it … show us respect, not in words but in deeds, show us respect for our lives and our rights,” he added.

T.R.