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

“The belief that the occupying Power has in fact committed war crimes is also being reported by several human rights organizations now working on the ground in Gaza. In that regard, the appeal by the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights and by the Human Rights Council, in its resolution dated 12 January 2009, for an independent investigation of crimes committed by Israel, the occupying Power, in Gaza is important and should be acted upon.”
2009-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6066Resumption1 (2009) · source
“Moreover, among countless other violations, the occupying Power has attacked medical workers and clearly marked ambulances, wantonly destroyed public and civilian infrastructure and institutions, targeted United Nations schools and buildings, denied access to medical treatment for the sick or wounded, and used Palestinian civilians as human shields, all the while continuously denying an entire population their most basic rights, including the right to food and water. Clearly, international law forbids such brutality. Humanitarian and human rights law prohibits, inter alia, the killing and bodily injury of civilians, reprisals against civilians and civilian objects, the wanton destruction of homes and other civilian property, and the collective punishment of civilians. Such actions, wilfully perpetrated, constitute war crimes.”
2009-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6066Resumption1 (2009) · source
“As the Palestinian civilian population continues to be subj ected to Israel's indiscriminate, excessive and disproportionate use of force by means of tanks, F-16s, helicopters and other heavy weapons, including white phosphorous shells and dense inert metal explosive bombs, the profound human suffering continues to mount, as the people of Gaza have nowhere to run and nowhere to seek refuge.”
2009-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6066Resumption1 (2009) · source
“For the nineteenth day now, Israel, the occupying Power, has continued with impunity to unleash its military wrath on the defenceless population of the Gaza Strip, killing nearly 1,000 Palestinians, including more than 400 children and women, and injuring nearly 5,000. Those who were killed not only were trapped, traumatized and terrorized along with the 1.5 million other inhabitants there, but also were denied the protection accorded to civilian persons under international law. In the light of that, the Palestinian people and their leadership - especially our people in Gaza - continue to call upon the international community to provide much-needed and long overdue protection for the civilian population and for measures to be swiftly taken in that regard to prevent the loss of more innocent lives.”
2009-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6066Resumption1 (2009) · source
“Palestine welcomes this open Security Council debate on the protection of civilians in armed conflict. We firmly share the belief that the protection of civilians in armed conflict is a matter of immense importance and that the Council's attention to that issue is both appropriate and necessary. We hope that the Council will continue to address the issue in an effective manner until the serious protection of civilians in armed conflict is ensured in all cases, without selectivity or inaction based on political considerations. For Palestine, today's debate is especially timely.”
2009-01-14 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6066Resumption1 (2009) · source
“We hope that their fate will not be that of the five brothers in J abalia or the martyred Hamdan children - Lama, five years old; Haya, 12 years old; and Ismail, also 12 years of age - or of the other 60 martyred children.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“The Council's failure to express its view with regard to this situation and to play its Charter role to address an issue of such centrality to the maintenance of international peace and security would result in enormous damage to its credibility and deprive us of its contribution, at the expense of innocent victims and the collective efforts to end the aggression. Once again, the peace process and developments on the ground are both linked and mutually reinforcing. Negative developments only serve to undermine efforts to achieve peace. In conclusion, mothers and children in the Gaza Strip are today looking towards the Council to halt this barbaric aggression and to protect them from criminality, deliberate starvation and killing. We hope that the Council will not let them down.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“We would like the Council to consider and adopt the draft resolution that my brother from Libya will introduce shortly. There must be an immediate ceasefire, and international protection must be provided for our people in Gaza, which is the only way genuinely to ensure respect for a ceasefire and to calm the situation. The international community, the Quartet and the Secretary-General have repeatedly expressed their views on this disaster and have called for an end to the aggression. They have done so in line with their moral and political responsibility. We pay tribute to their appeals and urge the Council to respond to them positively by adopting the draft resolution.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Allow me to repeat what I have already said: there is absolutely no justification for such criminal acts or for the immoral and illegal collective punishment of an entire people. 08-67507 The Israeli side has publicly rejected the Council's appeals for a halt to the aggression. It has also rejected every appeal by the leaders of the world and is continuing its aggression. All of that is in defiance of the Security Council, international law and international humanitarian law. The question now is: What does the Council intend to do? We believe that the Council must adopt a binding resolution that condemns Israel's crimes, ends the military aggression, provides protection for the Palestinians, lifts the siege and ensures a lasting ceasefire.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Throughout that time, we have come to the Security Council time and again to warn of imminent aggression and of the fact that Israel's siege would lead to a disaster. We asked the Council to adopt practical steps to compel Israel, the occupying Power, to halt its policy of collective punishment against the civilian population of Gaza. But the Council took no serious measures to stop Israel. Prior to the commencement of the current aggression, the situation in Gaza was on the verge of becoming a genuine humanitarian disaster. As can be seen on television screens, we now face that disaster. Live broadcasts include images of children killed in their beds, decimated families and human organs retrieved from underground.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Everybody has confirmed those reports: that the unprecedented closure of the Gaza crossings is causing an unacceptable disaster for the civilian population. UNRWA has had to cease the distribution of aid to 800,000 people, resulting in dire shortages of food, fuel, electricity and water throughout Gaza. Infrastructure construction projects, including those initiated by the United Nations, have come to a halt for lack of materials. Those are but a few illustrations of the hunger and despair that have been imposed on the Palestinians in Gaza for an entire year. Let me provide some additional tragic details to illustrate life in Gaza. Gaza's tragedy did not begin today; it has been taking place for a long time.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Under the guise of withdrawing from the Gaza Strip, Israel tightened its siege of the Strip and imposed a policy of collective punishment of Palestinians in Gaza. From the beginning of 2008 it continued to use brute force - excessive force - against the population, further exacerbating the humanitarian situation. Weeks before the most recent campaign, Israel crippled all spheres of activity in Gaza, notably the medical services, and prevented international and other humanitarian agencies, including the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), from bringing aid into Gaza. Israel has made absolutely no response to reports from the United Nations, from United Nations agencies on the ground and from Mr. Robert Serry warning of the disastrous consequences of this irresponsible policy.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“And Israel continues to kill, paying no heed to any appeals and trampling on every human value and every norm of international law. What we are seeing today is the realization of the repeated threats made by several Israeli officials over the past few months. They threatened to launch broad military attacks against the Palestinian people in Gaza, which is under Israeli occupation. Those threats have now been fulfilled in the military aggression launched by the occupying Power, killing innocent civilians. Those threats and the ongoing attacks must be taken very seriously. They must be condemned, and they must be stopped immediately by all available means. That requires immediate measures by the international community, including the Security Council.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Despite the momentum generated by the Security Council's adoption of resolution 1850 (2008), Israel, the occupying Power - instead of opening a new page and continuing on the road of peace, and in blatant and flagrant violation of the norms of international law - began its brutal aggression on 27 December. Israeli military aircraft - F-16 fighters and Apache helicopters - have dropped hundreds of bombs on numerous sites in Gaza. Israel continues to defy appeals from every corner of the world - including the statement issued by the Security Council on 28 December; the repeated appeals of the Secretary- General, including the appeal he made this evening; and the appeal of the Quartet - that it cease its aggression, which has been condemned and which threatens to claim more lives and plunges the region into a cycle of violence and hatred.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“We are at a very dangerous crossroads in the Middle East as a direct consequence of this Israeli aggression, which daily increases in ferocity, which threatens the lives and prosperity of 1.5 million Palestinian, and which threatens to undermine peace efforts. It is of the utmost importance that decisions be taken immediately by all actors, in particular the Security Council, which bears responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security. Such decisions must restore the reason, calm and stability that are necessary to make peace. The alternative is a more deeply entrenched cycle of violence, destruction and killing, a cycle that has many times brought tragedy to our peoples and that, if not halted, will definitely lead to the destruction of our hopes for peace.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“Mr. Mansour (Palestine) (spoke in Arabic): I thank you, Mr. President, and the other members of the Security Council for responding positively, by convening this meeting, to the request by the Group of Arab States and the sisterly country of the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya. I also thank the Secretary-General for his presence and for the important statement he has just made. For the fifth consecutive day, Israeli military aggression continues against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip. As I address the Council, the Palestinian people - the elderly, children and women - are facing a criminal military campaign that has claimed the lives of more than 380 people and injured more than 1,800 others, not to mention innocent women and children who have fallen victim while asleep in their homes.”
2008-12-31 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6060 (2008) · source
“We will continue to work cooperatively with our Egyptian brothers to regain Palestinian national unity in all its aspects, a goal that is so essential for our just cause. In conclusion, I express our deep hope that 2009 will indeed be the year in which we bring an end to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict and the tragedy of our peoples with the achievement of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, the cornerstone of which is the two-State solution. We look forward to the day when the Palestinian people will exercise their inalienable rights, including their right to self-determination; live in freedom and dignity in their independent State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital; and when we can together open a new chapter of peace, security and coexistence in our region.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Thus, even during the current transitional period, while we maintain our high expectations and hopes for the Annapolis process, we expect the Security Council and the Quartet to uphold their responsibilities and to exert the needed practical measures to ensure that obligations are met and that the parties refrain from any steps undermining confidence or prejudicing the outcome of negotiations. In this regard, we reiterate our hope that the ceasefire will continue to be upheld and will be extended to the West Bank. Moreover, we express appreciation to our Egyptian brothers and also for the most recent Arab ministerial meeting for the efforts exerted to help us achieve Palestinian reconciliation.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Such a mechanism is necessary to help us overcome the current obstacles and stagnation, avoid the same mistakes and deterioration, and allow the peace process to advance to a successful conclusion. We have tried to be constructive by identifying what has prevented us from achieving a peace treaty in 2008 and by calling for serious efforts to address the issues that have repeatedly hampered the peace process. This will be the greatest contribution in support of the peace process and to assisting the parties to advance their ongoing bilateral negotiations. This is what we believe will enhance our chances for avoiding the disappointment, failure and despair that the continuation of this conflict would bring and for finally realizing peace in 2009.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“On the ground, all of this has resulted in further fragmentation of the occupied Palestinian territory, the imposition of deeper socio-economic deprivation on the Palestinian people, the heightening of frustrations and tensions, and a weakening of hope and belief in the peace process. With the persistence of such complexities and behaviour completely contradictory to that required for a just resolution, it is imperative to ask: how can we bring the peace process to a successful conclusion in the year 2009? We believe that that the responsibility falls upon the Quartet and the Security Council to devise a practical mechanism to address these issues in a situation where one party repeatedly fails to respond to calls and to fulfil its obligations, miring us in a cyclical process with no end in sight.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Paradoxically, this has occurred at the very same time that reports from all concerned parties are praising Palestinian Authority efforts to promote law and order, particularly in cities like Jenin, in fulfilment of our obligations and underscoring the importance and benefits of such progress and cooperation on the security front. Also, even as this cooperation continues, Israel is still carrying out raids and arrests, which undermine our efforts and which, despite the recent release of some prisoners, ensures the continued imprisonment of at least 11,000 Palestinians.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“The inability to do so has sent the wrong message to the occupying Power, on the one hand allowing it to intensify settlement activities and on the other providing fertile ground for the escalation of settler terror, violence, harassment and intimidation against Palestinian civilians and properties, as recently witnessed in the appalling recent events in Al-Khalil. Another area where the absence of such a mechanism has undermined the process is the issue of the checkpoints and movement and access restrictions. Despite the Annapolis commitments and the Quartet's numerous calls for the easing of movement and access, we have witnessed an intensification of Israeli restrictions under the pretext of security, with an increase of at least 100 more obstacles in the West Bank and the isolation of East Jerusalem in particular.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Indeed, contrary to United Nations resolutions and the commitments made at Annapolis and despite repeated calls by the Quartet for respect of the Road Map obligation to freeze settlements and dismantle outposts, Israel has done the exact opposite, escalating the construction and expansion of settlements and the wall, particularly in East Jerusalem. This obviously requires a concrete response by the Quartet, which should put in place a mechanism to bring Israel into compliance with the call to freeze all settlement activities, including natural growth.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“But the international community has only been able to provide desperately needed humanitarian assistance, which the occupying Power also continues to obstruct with impunity, and has failed to act decisively on the political front to address this crisis and bring Israel into compliance with its obligations under international law, including humanitarian and human rights law. Immediately after Annapolis, it was also revealed that Israel was pressing on with its colonization campaign, in grave breach of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Here, we repeat that there is no justification whatsoever for such illegal collective punishment of a people. We have appealed to the Council on several occasions to act to compel Israel to cease its military attacks, ensure protection of the civilian population and cease the illegal, punitive measures by which it is deliberately causing a human catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. This has included repeated calls for the opening of the border crossings and implementation of the Agreement on Movement and Access.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Even as the international community revelled in the high of Annapolis, Israel continued its deviant behaviour, persisting with its illegal policies against the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. However, the Security Council and the Quartet have remained incapable of or unwilling to act to bring an end to such Israeli policies and to constructively support the parties in doing what must be done to truly achieve peace. In the run-up to Annapolis and continuously thereafter, Israel persisted in tightening its siege of the Gaza Strip, in massive collective punishment of the Palestinian civilians there, and continued, particularly in early 2008, to use excessive force against the population, deepening the tragic humanitarian situation in Gaza.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Secondly, what needs to be done to create appropriate conditions on the ground and between the parties to advance the process towards the attainment of the two-State solution based on United Nations resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the Road Map. While we continue to await such a report, we are, of course, all aware of what has transpired in the year since Annapolis. Despite the commitments made, the repeated calls of the Quartet and its very clear obligations under international law, Israel, the occupying Power, continues to behave on the ground as if there were no peace process and no prior agreements reached and as though it were immune from the laws that govern international relations, including situations of foreign occupation.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“In that connection, we agreed to the Quartet proposal for United States supervision and monitoring of the process and developments on the ground. It is our understanding that a report has in fact been prepared by United States General Fraser, yet we have not seen it. We believe that, at a minimum, it should be shared with the Quartet and the Council, not for the purpose of pointing fingers or blaming anyone but in order to know what the obstacles before us are so that they can be removed from the path of the process. The following must be determined. First, who is upholding his obligations and who is not?”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Why - despite the international presence and the promises of Annapolis, despite United States leadership, despite commitments made and despite reaffirmation of the Arab Peace Initiative and the various efforts exerted to support the peace process - have we been unable to make the required progress? What has happened in the year since Annapolis that has prevented us from concluding a peace treaty by the target date of the end of this year, as we were promised? We need a moment of truth, a reality check and serious answers. Only that will enable us to pinpoint what has gone wrong and to determine what needs to be done henceforth to avoid the pitfalls, repeated failures and deterioration of the past and to put the process on an accelerated track towards the achievement of its stated goals.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Despite the high hopes and momentum generated by the Annapolis Conference and despite some progress in certain areas, the situation has continued to deteriorate and minimal progress has been made towards peace. Once again, the intertwined and mutually reinforcing nature of the process and developments on the ground has been harshly confirmed. Negative developments on the ground have continued to undermine efforts to advance the peace process. At the same time, the failure to adhere to peace process commitments and to undertake steps for building confidence and improving the situation on the ground have continued to intensify tensions and exacerbate already difficult conditions. As we reflect on that reality, it is incumbent upon us to ask the following questions.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Indeed, since the declaration of independence 20 years ago, the Palestinian leadership has consistently reaffirmed its commitment to negotiations aimed at ending the Israeli occupation that began in 1967 and achieving the two- State solution for peace. Accordingly, the Palestinian Authority has upheld its obligations in good faith under all agreements reached and made every possible effort to fulfil its Road Map and Annapolis commitments. We all know what is needed to make peace, and yet peace has for too long eluded us. Any impartial examination of the situation on the ground in the occupied Palestinian territory and of the peace process in the past year leads us to the same conclusion.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“All efforts and practical measures must be exerted to advance that process in a way that justly resolves all core issues - including those of Jerusalem, borders, Palestinian refugees, settlements, water, security and prisoners - and leads to the conclusion of a peace treaty and the end of decades of our people's statelessness, occupation and suffering. The Palestinian people, under the leadership of their sole legitimate representative, the Palestine Liberation Organization, remain determined to achieve justice and to live in peace and security in their homeland, side by side with their neighbours.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“In that regard, we join Arab ministers, the Quartet and the many Council members who have emphasized the importance of the Arab Peace Initiative and of seizing the historic opportunity it provides to make peace and coexistence a reality in our region. Along with the resolutions of the Security Council and the Madrid principles, which constitute the basis of the peace process, the Initiative and the Road Map are integral to the Annapolis process, which has received wide international support and whose irreversibility the Council has affirmed.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“Moreover, we again urge the Council not only to remain seized of the matter but to actively follow up and implement its relevant resolutions, including resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973), 1397 (2002), 1515 (2003) and now 1850 (2008), in order to contribute tangibly to the achievement of a two-State solution that includes a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine living side by side with Israel in peace and security on the basis of the 1967 borders. That must remain among the Council's priorities for a just resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict that most benefits the Palestinian and Israeli peoples. It will also vastly enhance the prospects for regional and international peace and stability.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“The Security Council's efforts to address current developments - including the intensification of illegal Israeli settlements, the frustration of attempts to deliver humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian population in the besieged Gaza Strip, the rise of settler violence in the occupied Palestinian territory and the status of the Israeli-Palestinian peace process - are therefore welcome and signal the Council's reassertion of its authority and its intention to play a more active role in advancing a peaceful settlement. We have always appealed for the Security Council's engagement and called upon it to shoulder its responsibilities. Therefore, despite serious misgivings about the exclusionary process and limited scope, we welcome the adoption of resolution 1850 (2008).”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“We come before the Security Council two days after adoption of resolution 1850 (2008), the first resolution adopted by the Council with regard to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict in more than four and half years despite the many serious issues and crises that have arisen in that period requiring the Council's urgent attention and action. The Council's inability to pronounce itself on the situation has prevented it from playing its rightful role under the Charter to address an issue of central relevance to the maintenance of international peace and security, thereby harming its credibility and depriving us of its contribution, to the detriment of our collective efforts to achieve peace.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“I would like to reiterate our thanks to you, Mr. President, for your able stewardship of the Security Council this month. I should also like to express our appreciation to Mr. Robert Serry for his comprehensive briefing to the Council. As we approach the end of 2008, I would like to take this opportunity to pay tribute and bid farewell to the outgoing members of the Council. We would like to express our deepest appreciation for their tireless efforts and immense contributions to maintaining and strengthening international peace and security.”
2008-12-18 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6049 (2008) · source
“The international community therefore must cease its appeasement of such behaviour by Israel and must shoulder its responsibilities to bring about a change of course that will actually help the parties to truly realize the two - State solution for peace, a sovereign, independent, contiguous and viable State of Palestine, living side by side with Israel in peace and security, based on the 1967 borders. Ultimately, this will bring peace to the region as a whole.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“The international community must act; it cannot remain on the sidelines as Israel continues to flagrantly and blatantly breach international law and United Nations resolutions, which has only emboldened the occupying Power in its impunity over time. It is high time that the international community, including this Security Council, undertake its collective duty to exert the necessary, serious efforts to redress the illegal situation in the occupied Palestinian territory and bring an end to Israel's illegal policies and practices. Peace can never be realized as long as Israel continues to defy the law and remains an unwilling partner in the peace process.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“It is therefore imperative that Israel be compelled, first and foremost, to immediately and completely lift its siege of the Gaza Strip to allow for the movement of persons and goods in order to ease the isolation and humanitarian suffering of the Palestinian civilian population. In that regard, the Palestinian Authority once again reaffirms its readiness to assume responsibility for the Palestinian side of Gaza's border crossings, in line with the 2005 Agreement on Movement and Access. Israel should be called upon to abide by its commitments and legal obligations in that regard, including vis-a-vis the Palestinian civilian population under its occupation in the Gaza Strip, in compliance with the Fourth Geneva Convention, by which it is bound as the occupying Power.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Examples include its intensification of settlement construction while we are negotiating and its debilitating and punitive blockade of the Gaza Strip, ensuring the further aggravation of tensions, the undermining of confidence and the continued deterioration of the situation on the ground. That is to no one's benefit; it will only hasten the destabilization of the situation and a resurgence of the deadly cycle of violence, which will surely sabotage the peace process. Such an outcome must be averted at all costs and requires urgent action, not continued tolerance for this totally unjust situation.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“However, the existence of the peace process cannot be used as a cover or distraction by the occupying Power as it continues its pursuit of illegal policies and practices that are destroying Palestinian society, destroying Palestinian land and destroying our chances for achieving an end to the occupation, an end to the conflict and real peace for our peoples. Indeed, there is no legal, political, moral or human justification for the inhumane policies that Israel is carrying out against the Palestinian people, especially in the Gaza Strip. While the Palestinian leadership continues to make every effort to advance the peace process and to uphold its commitments, Israel, to the contrary, continues its illegal practices and provocative actions in the occupied Palestinian territory.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Moreover, without redress, tensions, insecurity and despair in the Gaza Strip will continue to rise and will further destabilize the entire situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, with all the destructive ramifications that that would have for the fragile and struggling peace process and thus the prospects for stability in the region as a whole. The Palestinian leadership is engaged in a peace process and is committed to that process with a view to achieving a just, lasting and peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine in all its aspects.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Eighty per cent of the population is also dependent on food aid for survival. More than 95 per cent of the industries, businesses and workshops are now closed, and nearly 50 per cent of the workforce is unemployed. Health and sanitation systems and other infrastructure are falling into disrepair and decay as spare parts and building materials - including for United Nations projects - remain restricted and in scarce supply, hastening the collapse of those systems. As reported by various United Nations agencies and international organizations, the negative short- and long-term repercussions of this crisis for the Palestinian people and their institutions, public services and infrastructure are vast and will be catastrophic if this situation continues.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Every sector of life in the Gaza Strip has been disrupted by this criminal and punitive siege. Poverty, hunger, disease and unemployment have risen to alarming levels. In our world today, as we collectively face the growing economic and food crises and seek a panacea for them, I would like the members of the Council to pause to consider the following harsh realities that the Palestinian people in Gaza are being forced to endure, not as a result of a natural disaster or some unforeseen global development, but rather as a result of deliberate, unlawful policies carried out by the occupying Power, which are intended to punish the population and plunge it into desperation. 5 Today, 80 per cent of the civilians in Gaza - the majority of whom are refugees and 50 per cent of whom are children - live below the poverty line.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Even purely humanitarian aid is being obstructed, as recently witnessed. In addition, Palestinian exports continue to be completely prohibited by the occupying Power, destroying thousands of livelihoods. At the same time, Israel continues to obstruct the movement of persons, including patients requiring emergency medical treatment unavailable in Gaza, many of whom have died waiting for the right to travel outside Gaza. Israel also continues to hamper the access of humanitarian personnel to Gaza, including those working for United Nations agencies such as the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East, which continues its valiant efforts to provide assistance to nearly 1 million refugees there despite the many restrictions, obstacles and shortages of supplies.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Israel has continued to impose this most severe and inhumane form of closure, even after the calm that has largely prevailed - despite several violations, including Israeli military attacks last month that killed dozens of Palestinians - since June of this year, following the ceasefire agreement reached through Egyptian mediation efforts, which were intended to break the cycle of violence as well as the blockade. The occupying Power continues to close all of the Gaza Strip's border crossings and allowing only for the infrequent opening of some crossings under many restrictions. Restrictions continue to be imposed on the import of food, medicine, fuel, building materials and other essential supplies. That has caused a shortage of all necessities and is causing extensive human deprivation.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“This provision of the Convention, whose direct purpose and intention is the protection of the civilian population in time of war, is being breached by Israel on a massive scale, constituting a war crime against the Palestinian people - a crime for which the occupying Power should be held fully accountable. As we are all aware, since this crisis has unfolded before the eyes of the international community, the l7-m0nth-long Israeli siege has transformed the Gaza Strip into an open-air prison that is not only totally separated from the rest of the Palestinian territory, but also completely isolated from the rest of the world.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“Regrettably, despite all our urgent pleas and repeated appeals, no measures have been undertaken to address that unjust situation. Assessed under any pretext and in any context, Israel's collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population in the Gaza Strip constitutes a grave violation of article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which, inter alia, prohibits the occupying Power from punishing a protected person for an offence he or she has not personally committed and prohibits the imposition of collective penalties and likewise all measures of intimidation or of terrorism.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source
“In addition, there have been numerous reports by the Secretary-General and by several United Nations agencies highlighting the critical situation in the occupied Palestinian territory. Mr. John Holmes, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, has specifically briefed the Council on the grim, deplorable situation in the Gaza Strip, and Mr. Robert Serry, United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and Mr. Lynn Pascoe, Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, have also come before this Council numerous times, conveying the urgency and the stark reality of the humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip and calling on Israel to lift its siege as well as calling for a new approach to the situation in Gaza.”
2008-12-03 · UN Security Council · Security Council, S/PV.6030 (2008) · source