YouSaid · the spoken record

Mansour

lines on the record: 2,038
first: 2006-03-30
most recent: 2023-12-22
sittings or episodes: 126
sources: un-security-council

Every line below is reproduced as it was said and linked to the record it came from. Nothing here is summarised or generated. Directory · Search · Corrections

“I come before the Security Council on behalf of the leadership of the State of Palestine and the Palestinian people - a long- suffering, yet proud and dignified people who remain steadfast and fully committed to the achievement of their inalienable rights, justice and their legitimate national aspirations, including to self-determination, freedom and independence, and who remain committed to the pursuit of political, diplomatic, peaceful and non-violent means for the achievement of those objectives, for which there is overwhelming and long- standing global support. We have endured the passage of yet another year that has inflicted on the Palestinian people more loss and tragedy and seen the deterioration of the situation on all fronts due to the illegal, destructive and oppressive actions of Israel, the occupying Power.”
2014-12-30 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7354 (2014) · source
“We therefore reiterate our appeal to the members of the Security Council and the international community to support our initiative and adopt a resolution reaffirming the fundamental parameters of the two-State solution and delineating a time frame to bring an end to the Israeli occupation and achieve the independence and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people. Such a resolution would constitute a major contribution to the efforts to salvage the prospects for peace and accelerate its realization, with a view to ultimately ushering in a new reality in which Jerusalem is a shared capital of peace and a new era opens up for our peoples and the region as a whole.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“If that course fails, Israel must be held fully accountable for its crimes and obstruction of peace. Jerusalem is a painful reflection of Israel's entrenched occupation and its total rejection of peace. Yet, deeply committed to peace, we remain insistent that Jerusalem become a reflection of our collective determination to achieve a two-State solution based on the pre-l967 borders, with an independent, sovereign, contiguous and democratic State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“The international community, especially the Security Council, must send a clear message and reaffirm its established positions and the international consensus. The Council must fulfil its responsibility to bring an end to this illegal situation, which has broad and dangerous political, religious and security dimensions. Israel, the occupying Power, must be compelled to immediately and completely cease its illegal settlement activities throughout the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and to cease all provocations and incitements at the holy sites in occupied East Jerusalem and against the Palestinian people and their leadership. Israel must be compelled to comply with international law, including the Fourth Geneva Convention, and to commit to the path of peace.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“It has been deemed as such by the Council, based on the United Nations Charter principle of the inadmissibility of the acquisition of territory by force, and the relevant provisions of international law, particularly the Fourth Geneva Convention, which strictly prohibits colonization activities, among other prohibitions. The positions of the International Court of Justice and the General Assembly are also very clear in that regard. Moreover, the international consensus is firm regarding the illegality of the Israeli settlement enterprise and the status of Jerusalem, including non-recognition of Israeli claims to sovereignty over East Jerusalem and agreement that East Jerusalem is occupied territory and remains an integral part of the Palestinian territory that has been belligerently occupied by Israel since 1967.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“We strongly and unequivocally condemn all those illegal Israeli actions in occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of occupied Palestine. Such illegal policies and measures, along with the deplorable, illegal blockade of our people in the Gaza Strip, who are suffering grievously as a result of the disastrous impact of the recent criminal Israeli war waged against them, in addition to all the other measures of collective punishment imposed by Israel on our people, have created an explosive situation, which, if left unattended, will deteriorate further, with grave consequences. That the situation is illegal and unsustainable and destroys the prospects for peace is not merely a Palestinian narrative or perspective.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Israeli officials, including the Prime Minister and members of his Cabinet, persist in their grotesque competition to see who can most effectively provoke Palestinian and Muslim sensitivities by spewing dangerous rhetoric and uttering incitements and hate speech at an alarming rate. Provocation continues via attempts to pass legislation to change the status quo of the holy city. At the same time, Israel continues its excavations and tunnelling in the city, including near and under the holy sites, threatening their integrity, foundations and sanctity. Stringent restrictions on access to the city, affecting both Palestinian Muslims and Christians, severely impede freedom of worship and of movement, while closures of Palestinian institutions in the city continue.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Palestinian residents of East Jerusalem also suffer from acts of raging violence, discrimination and racism directed against them by Israeli extremists, who persist in their attacks against Palestinian civilians, including killings, assaults and kidnapping attempts on children, as well as attacks against Muslim and Christian holy sites, including the vandalizing and desecration of several mosques and churches in the city. Israeli occupying forces and Jewish extremists also continue carrying out incursions into the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound and attacking Palestinian worshippers.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Every day the territorial contiguity and integrity of our State is being fragmented and undermined by those illegal actions, which seriously diminish the viability of the two-State solution. The occupying Power has also continued to confiscate property, including the seizure last week of 35 Palestinian homes by extremist settlers in the Silwan neighbourhood of occupied East Jerusalem. Such actions have forcibly displaced hundreds of Palestinian families from the city, in addition to their displacement by other illegal measures, including the demolition of Palestinian homes, the revocation of Palestinian residency and threats to forcibly transfer thousands of Palestine refugee Bedouins, which would be a violation of their human rights.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“It has targeted occupied East Jerusalem in particular with such illegal measures and has openly permitted and supported the illegal and violent actions of its settlers and extremists in the city. Israeli settlement activities have persisted unabated, with the construction and expansion of settlements, the building of the wall and recurrent announcements about plans for the construction of thousands more settlement units. The latest declaration, this week, concerns the construction of another 1,000 units. It was preceded by an announcement regarding the construction of more than 2,600 units in the city earlier this month, which was preceded by the issuance of military orders to confiscate 1,000 acres of Palestinian land in the Bethlehem area, and so forth.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Moreover, Israel not only denies that East Jerusalem is occupied and refuses to recognize Palestinian rights or presence or history with respect to the city, but actively seeks to negate those rights and to characterize Jerusalem as a solely Jewish and Israeli city, ignoring its centrality to the Arab countries and the Muslim Ummah - for whom Al-Quds Al-Sharif is the first Qibla and third holiest site - as well as its centrality to Christianity. Since the occupation began in 1967, Israel, the occupying Power, has never ceased its unlawful attempts to create facts on the ground to alter Palestine's demography, character, legal status and geography.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“The Council further calls on Israel "to cease, on an urgent basis, the establishment, construction and planning of settlements in the Arab territories occupied since 1967, including Jerusalem" (resolution 465 (1980), para. 6). Have the resolutions been implemented? The answer is obviously "no". Israel continues to do exactly the opposite. While the rest of us seek peace and try any and every initiative aimed at ending this nearly 50-year military occupation and salvaging the two-State solution on the basis of the pre-1967 borders, Israel is instead expanding and entrenching its illegitimate control over occupied East Jerusalem and the rest of occupied Palestine through countless unlawful policies and measures.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“We recall in particular the Council's determination that all measures taken by Israel, the occupying Power, "to alter the character and status of the Holy City of Jerusalem, and in particular the recent 'basic law' on Jerusalem, are null and void and must be rescinded forthwith" (resolution 478 (1980), para. 4). Moreover, we recall the Council's determination that "the policy and practices of Israel in establishing settlements in the Palestinian and other Arab territories occupied since 1967 have no legal validity and constitute a serious obstruction to achieving a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East" (resolution 446 (1979), para.]).”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“In countless official letters conveyed to the Security Council and in repeated statements in this Chamber, we have urged that serious international attention be given to the crisis in occupied East Jerusalem caused by Israel's illegal policies, practices and provocations. We have repeatedly appealed to the Security Council to uphold its resolutions on Jerusalem - including resolutions 446 (1979), 452 (1979), 465 (1980), 478 (1980) and 672 (1990) - as an urgent contribution to reducing tensions and stabilizing the situation on the ground and as a long-term contribution to the efforts to achieve a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, which is the core of the Arab-Israeli conflict.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Israeli provocations and incitement, particularly at Al-Haram Al-Sharif, home to the holy Al-Aqsa Mosque and Qubbat Al-Sakhra * the Dome of the Rock - are further inflaming this volatile situation, aggravating religious sentiments, deepening mistrust and threatening to ignite yet another cycle of violence, including instigation of religious conflict. Such illegal Israeli actions are severely exacerbating the conflict and obstructing a peaceful solution, with grave implications. We have therefore been instructed by President Mahmoud Abbas to bring this crisis situation to the urgent attention of the Security Council, in full recognition of its Charter duty with respect to the maintenance of international peace and security.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“The City is the heart of Palestine and has historically been the religious, political, social, economic and cultural centre for the Palestinian people for centuries. And Jerusalem, a theatre for both conflict and peace, has always maintained an Arab and Islamic identity, and will continue to do so. Yet, Jerusalem is under siege as Israel, the occupying Power, continues its reckless attempts to change its character, falsify its history, alter its demography and negate Palestinian rights and connections to Jerusalem.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Israel is not listening or abiding by the Council's will. It is not listening to those resolutions, and so long as it continues not to listen, peace will not move forward. On the contrary, we will face explosive situations such as that we are facing today in occupied East Jerusalem. I thank you, Madam, for your swift response to our urgent appeal and to the formal request of Jordan, the Arab representative on the Security Council, to convene this emergency meeting to address the critical situation in occupied East Jerusalem, which clearly has a bearing on the crisis situation in the rest of Palestine, as well as in the region and far beyond. Jerusalem, the Holy City of the three monotheistic religions, was and remains the key to peace.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“If we cannot collectively convince the occupying Power to negotiate with us the end of occupation in order to allow for the independence of the State of Palestine, and thereby to actualize the global concensus on a two-State solution, then the option of the two-State solution may not be available to us. For that, there Will be no one to blame except the occupying Power for not responding in a responsible and positive way in negotiating with us, in good faith, the end of occupation. Israel is still insisting that it is not an occupier and that there is no occupied terroritory, in complete contradiction to the many relevant resolutions of the Security Council and the United Nations, as well as the global consensus that the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, are defined as occupied territory.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Allow me at the outset to thank Mr. Feltman, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, for his very important briefing and for the principled elements that he raised, especially the position of the Secretary-General that all these illegal activities, policies and practices of Israel, the occupying Power, must stop immediately, especially in occupied East Jerusalem, and be rescinded. We also agree totally with Mr. Feltman and many other leaders, including President Barak Obama speaking before the General Assembly, that the status quo cannot be sustained and is not an option. Precisely for that reason, we have put before the Security Council a draft resolution reflecting the initiative of President Mahmoud Abbas that contains elements of a parameter, with a time frame, to end the occupation.”
2014-10-29 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7291 (2014) · source
“Why is it a unilateral action when we exercise our right - our legal, peaceful, civilized, diplomatic right - to defend ourselves in a better way? If the Israeli leaders think they are not doing anything wrong, why are they afraid of our going to the ICC in order to go after those who are committing illegal acts against us? I apologize for taking the floor for the third time.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Why is Israel afraid of us exercising our right? Why does Israel call it "unilateral", when it is the one that is acting unilaterally and illegally? In Arabic literature we have a very famous saying: people who live in glass houses should not throw stones. We do not need those who are buried to their ears in illegal behaviour - settlements, the blockade of the Gaza Strip, the unilateral action with regard to Jerusalem - to lecture us that they do not want us to so-called "unilaterally" act on something on which it is our legal right to act. We came to the General Assembly, which recognized the State of Palestine. It changed our status. It opened doors for us to defend ourselves peacefully, legally, diplomatically.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“I will be very short. We are interested in peace. We also consider the building of settlements and declaring Jerusalem the capital of the State of Israel, and not an occupied territory, to be unilateral illegal actions condemned by everyone here, who also demand that Israel stop illegal settlement activities - because they are illegal - and to implement Council resolutions that state that the unilateral, illegal action of annexing Jerusalem is not acceptable. For us, we are exercising our legal right to join treaties and conventions. We are doing it peacefully. We are doing it diplomatically. We are doing it legally. Even when we join the International Criminal Court (ICC) to go after those who committed crimes against our people, we are taking an action that it is our right to take. It is legal. It is civilized.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“We look forward to seeing this collective will to be translated into the adoption of a draft resolution that demands from the occupying Power that it withdraw from our land and negotiate with us in good faith the end of occupation so that we can celebrate the two-State solution after the State of Palestine acquires its independence.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Is the behaviour of such authorities - leaders, including the Deputy Speaker of the Knesset, who, together with extremists, stands on top of the Al-Aqsa Mosque and raises the flag of Israel - the behaviour of a Government that is really interested in peace with us? Or is it the behaviour of a cavalier colonial Power that disrespects the people that it occupies? We are familiar with that behaviour - everyone here is familiar with that behaviour. All colonialists behave in the same way: they blame the victims for their own crimes. As all of them in history were defeated, we are confident that this colonial authority will withdraw from our land so that we can have a two-State solution. We thank you again, Madam President, for this support.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Let me also note that the representative of the occupying authority said "since the unification of Jerusalem". We know that there is a Security Council resolution saying that everything that Israel has done unilaterally in annexing Jerusalem is null and void and has no legal authority. Israel is alone - isolated - in not accepting East Jerusalem as an occupied territory. The entire international community - those who are represented in this Chamber and those who are not - are all united in stating that Israel is occupying East Jerusalem and that it must withdraw from East Jerusalem. We agree that Jerusalem is one of the final status issues, yet the Israeli representative speaks to the Council with such disrespect, saying "since we unified Jerusalem" - in other words, they do not want to withdraw from it.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Let me also say that those who speak about lies should not themselves tell lies. We know for a fact that Palestinians under 50 years of age are not allowed to come to Jerusalem to practice their religious freedom. We know for a fact that Palestinians from areas outside ofEast Jerusalem and the West Bank cannot freely come to exercise their religious freedoms in Al-Aqsa Mosque or in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre. We have sent many letters to the Council telling the stories of the restrictions imposed by those who say that Jerusalem is a city that is open to everybody to practice their religion. We live the daily reality in which thousands and sometimes tens ofthousands of Palestinians pray in the streets close to the holy sites in Jerusalem because the Israeli occupying authority denied them such rights.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“I want to thank you, Madam President, and all ofthe members ofthe Security Council and the large number of representatives speaking on behalf of the entire international community for reaffirming their commitment to justice for the Palestinian people, and for their call for an end to the occupation so that we can actualize the global consensus on the two-State solution. We cannot have the two-State solution without ending the occupation. We challenge the one delegation that is refusing to accept that it is an occupier and refusing to tell everyone here, and throughout every corner of the globe, that it is willing and ready to withdraw from our land and to allow for the independence of our State with East Jerusalem as its capital, so that we can achieve the two- State solution.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Has the time not come for the historic injustice against our people to end?" We believe that the time has come, and we appeal to the international community for all possible support to our efforts to realize those noble, long-overdue objectives.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“In that regard, we express gratitude to Sweden for its principled announcement regarding recognition of the State of Palestine as well as the motions on recognition put forward by the Parliaments of the United Kingdom and Spain, and we encourage those who have not yet recognized the existence of our State to do so as a legitimate and necessary contribution to peace. In closing, to our people in occupied Palestine, in the refugee camps of Jordan, Lebanon and Syria, and the Diaspora, we reiterate our resolve to end their plight and to ensure their rights, national aspirations and well- being. We recall the question posed by President Abbas at the Cairo Conference: "Has the time not come for righteousness and justice to prevail in Palestine?”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“We reiterate our call on the members of the Security Council and the international community to support the initiative and the approach to reaffirm the fundamental parameters for a just solution, and to inject new momentum into the efforts to achieve lasting peace and security between the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. We urge all States to uphold their responsibilities - collectively here at the United Nations and as high contracting parties to the Geneva Conventions, as well as individually - to back the efforts towards making peace a reality.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“The elements of the draft resolution are based fully on the provisions of relevant Security Council and General Assembly resolutions comprising the foundation of a lasting peace settlement. Moreover, the draft calls for a cessation of Israel's illegal policies and practices; its compliance with international law, including humanitarian and human rights law; and the protection of the Palestinian people, which are imperative for reducing tensions, promoting calm and creating the appropriate environment and level of trust required for the conduct of genuine, accelerated negotiations to end the occupation and resolve the core issues.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“The credibility of that process has been nullified by Israel and it is high time to move beyond speaking of the two-State solution in theory and time to act forthwith to actualize it, before the small opportunity that remains vanishes - an impending reality that is widely acknowledged. We have therefore approached the Security Council with the initiative of a draft resolution reaffirming the parameters of the two-State solution and delineating a time frame for an end to the 47-year Israeli military occupation of Palestinian land, including East Jerusalem, and for the attainment of the independence and rights of the Palestinian people. As affirmed by President Abbas before the General Assembly, we are committed to that peaceful, political, non-violent, legal path to achieve our rights and establish peace and security.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“In that regard we reiterate the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative and recognize the role of our Arab brethren in supporting peace efforts. If we are ever to attain those urgent objectives, we cannot return to the same cycle of failed negotiations, which are used by Israel only as a means to alleviate international pressure and as a cover for its illegal schemes to entrench, rather than end, its occupation. How many times have our protestations against Israel's settlement activities and collective punishment of our people, including the cruel blockade of Gaza, been met with demands that we restrain ourselves to avoid undermining the peace process?”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Here, we also reaffirm before the Council that the Palestinian people and the Palestinian national consensus Government, under the leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas, remain fully committed to peace and will continue to exert every effort, in partnership and with the support of all concerned countries, to achieve as soon as possible a just, comprehensive and viable solution that will bring a complete end to the Israeli occupation begun in 1967, and achieve the independence of the State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital, living side by side with Israel in peace and security within recognized borders, and ajust solution for the Palestine refugee question, in accordance with General Assembly resolution 194 (III).”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Those declarations and actions are predicated on the erroneous notion that such an immoral, unjust outcome would ever be accepted. We reiterate in response that the Palestinian people will never forgo their inalienable human rights, including to freedom, independence and sovereignty, and they will never forgo justice and the goal of peace. We believe that the international community, too, will never accept such an injustice. Our conviction is firm that the international community will more precisely continue to demand respect for international law and for the consensus solution rooted in United Nations resolutions, and will continue to advocate for the realization of the rights of the Palestinian people to defend the vulnerable and to seek peace andjustice.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“While the international community appeals for calm and restraint, Israeli officials are outbidding each other with provocative declarations and incitement against the Palestinian people and their Government. I am sure we will hear such crude incitement in this Chamber again today by the Israeli representative. Just weeks ago, Prime Minister Netanyahu stood before the General Assembly (see A/69/PV.17) extolling the status quo and denying that there is an occupation; and Israeli war minister Ya'alon has declared openly that they will never allow the two-State solution and blatantly exposed their intentions to force the Palestinian people into isolated, disconnected Bantustans without sovereignty and under Israel's perpetual subjugation.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Occupied East Jerusalem and its Palestinian inhabitants remain a primary target of those illegal practices as the occupying Power continues its attempts to illegally alter the demography, character, identity and spirit of the Holy City with repeated provocations at Al-Aqsa Mosque, threatening to deepen polarizations and instigate a religious conflict, with grave consequences, and paying no heed to the clear sensitivities and volatility of the region. Armed settlers persist with their terror rampages against Palestinian civilians, just days ago killing a 5-year old Palestinian girl, Inas Khalil, in addition to incessant attacks on our land, mosques and churches.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“That is not the Palestinian narrative; it is the reality confirmed over and over by the actions of the Israeli Government and the words of its representatives at the highest levels. On the ground, Israel's illegitimate and destructive colonial project continues apace. As it did throughout the nine months of United States Secretary of State John Kerry's sponsored negotiations, Israel persists with its settlement construction, the construction of its apartheid annexation wall, land confiscation, home demolitions and forced displacement of civilians, including threats to displace more than 12,000 Bedouins.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Hence, while we seek to immediately address, in coordination with the United Nations, urgent humanitarian and reconstruction needs to restore dignity to the lives of our people in Gaza, including by lifting the blockade and consolidating the ceasefire, we will also act resolutely, with the support of all concerned and friendly countries, to ensure a broader political horizon and mobilize the global will for political action to justly, finally and peacefully resolve the conflict's core issues and to realize the legitimate national aspirations and rights of the Palestinian people, including to self- determination and freedom. The time is past due to acknowledge that Israel, the occupying Power, rejects peace and is deliberately destroying the two-State solution and undermining every effort to realize it.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“In that regard, I must clarify - tending to the wounds of our people and seeking justice is neither incitement nor provocation; rather, it is responsible, moral behaviour and an absolute imperative to promote genuine healing, without which peace and reconciliation between the two peoples can ever be realized. Therefore, while we are grateful for the outpouring of support and the generosity and the principled commitments by donor countries in Cairo, and while we reaffirm our gratitude to the Governments of Egypt and Norway for their sponsorship of the Conference, we reiterate whas was stressed by the UNRWA Commissioner-General: "Nowhere in the world does humanitarian assistance alone make up for the denial of dignity and rights". Palestine is not the exception.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“The same period witnessed the killing of at least 32 Palestinian civilians in violent and destructive raids throughout the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and the arrest and detention of more than 800 civilians, including children. This list is not exhaustive and these facts alone cannot convey the depth of our people's misery following this horrific war and our collective grief at the immense loss oflife and tragedy endured. As we seek to move forward, we cannot ignore the pain of the families who have lost and buried their loved ones and must do all we can to heal the injured bodies, wounded souls and broken spirits of those who remain. Serious efforts are required to allay their suffering, but also to ensure accountability for these crimes and give them hope for the future.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“In addition, 75 hospitals and clinics were damaged and 23 health personnel were killed and 83 injured. More than 33,000 metres of water and waste networks were damaged. The attack on the Gaza power plant caused up to 22 hours a day ofpower outages, with 18-hour outages continuing due to lack of fuel, with the many consequences for civilian life. At least 500 economic and industrial facilities, constituting 60 per cent of Gaza's production capacity, were destroyed, directly and indirectly impacting more than 35,000 jobs. Approximately 8,000 unexploded ordnance, 10 per cent of the munitions launched by Israel at Gaza, remains scattered in civilian areas, obstructing rubble removal and reconstruction and endangering lives.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Even now, victims of Israeli assaults are dying due to the severity of their wounds or the lack of life-saving medical treatment in Gaza. More than half a million people were displaced at the height of the aggression, the largest displacement of Palestinian civilians since 1967. More than 80,000 homes were damaged by the occupying forces, with 20,000 homes either entirely destroyed or damaged beyond habitation. To date, 108,000 people have been rendered homeless, with more than 40,000 people continuing to shelter at 18 UNRWA schools. More than 100 United Nations facilities were damaged, including UNRWA schools, where civilians believed they were safe under the United Nations flag, yet where many lost their lives in abhorrent Israeli attacks.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“In that regard, I recall a statement by Assistant Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Kyung- Wha Kang at the height ofthe conflict, addressed to the Human Rights Council special session on Gaza in July: "Families are taking the heart-wrenching decision to split to different locations - mother and son to one, father and daughter to another - hoping to maximize the chance one part of the family survives". Our people were trying desperately to save themselves from the Israeli war machine. So far, 1,500 girls and boys have been orphaned. More than 373,000 traumatized children require psych-osocial support. More than 11,000 Palestinians were injured, including 3,000 children, of them 1,000 disabled for life.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“As of 26 August 2014, among the breaches of international law amounting to war crimes committed by Israel, the occupying Power, in its 50-day aggression against Gaza are the following. There were 2,180 Palestinians killed, the majority civilians, among them 516 children and 283 women. Among families, 142 lost three or more members in the same incident, with a total of 739 people from those families perishing, including in Israeli bombings that flattened homes atop entire families. That fact confirms in stark terms the excessive, indiscriminate nature of Israel's offensive and the abject failure to protect civilians. The numbers also belie Israel's claims to the contrary, including false claims about human shields.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“The Secretary- General has described the toll as "beyond words", a sentiment repeatedly conveyed in the universal expressions of disbelief and shame that such devastation and trauma could again be inflicted on the Palestinian people, and so cruelly, deliberately and systematically. While all may know by now the figures, they merit repeating in the Council, to be put in the official record but also to impel a greater sense of urgency for expediting recovery, including by the complete lifting of the illegal Israeli blockade, which continues to suffocate Gaza and impede efforts to alleviate the humanitarian disaster and to expedite the long-overdue solution to the conflict.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“Today, we also pay tribute to the eleven Palestinian national staff of UNRWA who lost their lives during the Israeli onslaught on Gaza. We honour their selfless humanitarian service to their people and convey our sincerest condolences to their families and colleagues. We also memorialize the many others of our humanitarian and medical personnel, as well as journalists, who were killed while aiding others or trying to give voice to the anguish of our people during this criminal war. Nearly two months ago, since the Israeli aggression against Gaza ended, following the ceasefire reached on 26 August under the auspices of Egypt, the magnitude of the carnage, terror and destruction inflicted continue to weigh heavily, impacting every aspect of life and fuelling despair and hopelessness.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“We join the Secretary-General today in commending the extraordinary work of the United Nations agencies on the ground, which exerted valiant efforts during the recent crisis in Gaza, including, inter alia, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, UNICEF, the United Nations Development Programme, the World Health Organization, the World Food Programme and the United Nations Mine Action Service, as well as the Office of the United Nations Special Coordinator, led by Special Coordinator Robert Serry, to whom we express appreciation for his role in facilitating the recent agreement regarding access to and reconstruction in the Gaza Strip.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“The Secretary- General's expressions of solidarity and support resonated deeply with our people, who recognize the historic role of the United Nations in advocating for justice and for the rights of the Palestinian people, including the Palestine refugees, and who continue to look to the United Nations to ease their hardships and lead the way to ajust, lasting and comprehensive peace.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source
“We are certain that this would better inform the Council's deliberations and compel greater resolve to contribute to a viable solution through the implementation of the Council's resolutions and in line with its Charter duty to ensure international peace and security. As noted by the Secretary-General during his visit to Gaza, "No amount of Security Council sessions, reports or briefings could have prepared me for what I witnessed today". At this critical time, we again appeal for such a visit by the Council, stressing the imperative of salvaging the prospects for Palestinian-Israeli peace. The centrality of the United Nations in pursuit of a peaceful solution is indisputable.”
2014-10-21 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.7281 (2014) · source