NEW YORK, August 10, 2025 (WAFA) - Minister Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, stressed that Israel proved long ago that its goal is the destruction of the Palestinian people through forced transfer and massacres to facilitate its annexation of Palestinian land.
During his address to the Emergency UN Security Council Meeting on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestine Question, Mansour said that "Israel is killing Palestine in Gaza. That is its objective." And there, over 2 million victims are enduring unbearable agony that the human mind can barely comprehend, he added.
“We are not allowed to fail them any longer. We do not have the luxury to feel guilt or shame. We owe them to act now to stop this genocide.”
He stressed that Israel had proved long ago that it was not concerned with the fate of the hostages, adding that the latest decision to reoccupy Gaza was yet another blatant demonstration of that.
Following is the full speech of Minister Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, before the Emergency Security Council Meeting:
Thank you for convening this meeting based on a request supported by nearly every member of the Security Council to address the grave situation in Gaza and further shocking developments.
Mr. President.
Israel is killing Palestine in Gaza. That is its objective. And there, over 2 million victims are enduring unbearable agony that the human mind can barely comprehend.
We are not allowed to fail them any longer. We do not have the luxury to feel guilt or shame. We owe them to act now to stop this genocide.
Mr. President,
There is something undeniable. Israel does not care about what we say. It is obvious. The only thing that matters now is what we do. What will force Israel to change course is our ability to transform justified condemnations into just actions. And, history will judge us all.
Mr. President,
There is an international plan adopted by the International High Level Conference on Palestine, co-chaired by Saudi Arabia and France, that starts with ending the use of starvation as a weapon of war and ending the war on Gaza through a ceasefire, the release of the hostages and prisoners, a massive surge of humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people in coordination with the UN and in line with humanitarian principles, and the full withdrawal of Israel from Gaza.
The plan foresees the Palestinian Authority resuming its sole governmental and security duties in the Gaza Strip with regional and international support and Hamas handing over its weapons to the Palestinian Authority in the context of an end to the war and in line with the objective of an independent Palestinian State.
It sets forth an irreversible pathway to an independent and sovereign Palestinian State leading to shared peace and security and regional integration.
If Israel’s concern was actually the end of Hamas rule or Hamas disarming, if its concern was actually security, it would have rallied this plan.
Israel is seeking to cement its full military control over the Gaza Strip and is prolonging this war not to end Hamas rule or disarm it, but to prevent independent Palestinian statehood.
The Israeli government has said that clearly, over and over again. Israel proved long ago it was not concerned with the fate of the hostages. This latest decision is one more blatant demonstration of that. The Israeli government dehumanized and demonized Palestinians to such an extent that its genocide against them through mass killing and starvation, including of children, is only opposed in Israel by some brave voices.
Israel proved long ago that its goal is the destruction of the Palestinian people through forced transfer and massacres to facilitate its annexation of our land.
Such illegal and immoral plans cannot be met with only outrage. They require the mobilization of all the tools available to stop them.
Israel proved long ago it does not care about the Charter, international law or the resolutions of this Council if not accompanied by consequences. These facts have led many to rightly wonder: How on earth is Israel still allowed to sit around this table and in these United Nations?!
Mr. President,
Countries around the world are adopting more and more measures to end any form of complicity and to advance accountability and we appreciate these efforts.
All States should undertake such steps immediately. But in the face of such contempt, and of two million lives being destroyed – of people, children, killed, maimed, displaced, starved, humiliated, mutilated, buried alive, burnt alive, abducted, tortured, orphaned, bereaved, shattered, torn apart – the measures taken do not match the level of the crimes committed so as to truly deter them.
Mr. President,
Two million people continue to endure pain and agony that no human, or nation should ever be forced to. They matter. Every single one of them matters. And no one matters more than them.
The position of Palestine is unequivocal. We reject all harm to civilians. And our civilians are not less civilians. Their lives are not less worthy.
We have never justified and always rejected harming Israeli civilians, killing them or taking
them hostage. But we reject any attempt to justify the massacres committed by Israel against Palestinian civilians, or its abduction of thousands of Palestinians, or its starvation policy, or its displacement policy or its annexation policy.
There is no justification whatsoever for such barbarity, such impunity. We have called for a ceasefire over and over again, and we were clear that Hamas must work with the mediators to remove any obstacle or excuse that would prolong this war.
We presented plans and proposals and cooperated with every effort to facilitate an agreement to end the war on our people, while reiterating clearly that the absence of such an agreement in no way allows Israel to pursue its war of atrocities against the Palestinian people.
Neither a ceasefire agreement was reached nor the massacres stopped. The devastation of our people, the annihilation of life in Gaza, continues as we speak.
Therefore, given Netanyahu’s insistence to pursue this genocide, to destroy our people through death and displacement, to annex our land, to destroy Palestine and with it any chance for peace, this Council must act under chapter 7 to deprive Israel of the means to pursue this war of atrocities, to hold it accountable for its crimes and to send an immediate international protection force to save the Palestinian people from certain death.
There is no doubt that it is Israel’s impunity that led to Israel’s insanity. And as the world said clearly that nothing that Israel did before the 7th of October could justify harming Israeli civilians on the 7th of October, nothing that Hamas did on the 7th of October can justify harming Palestinian civilians since. As long as Israel is above the law, it will act as an outlaw state.
Mr. President,
As they have for over 20 years since the Arab Peace Initiative, the region and Palestine are making the choice of peace.
We are willing to work with the US administration and Saudi Arabia and France and the Members of this Council and other regional and international partners to bring this war on our people to an end now.
To end the bloodshed and the suffering now and once and for all. To achieve freedom and shared peace, security and prosperity. We have a duty to act and cannot waver.
Your actions today will determine the fate of millions of people tomorrow, at least those who would have survived by then, and the fate of our region for generations to come.
T.R.
