Riyad Mansour said 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, saying that fully 70% of all those killed are women and children.
NEW YORK — Some 3,000 children have been killed in Gaza Strip by Israel since the attacks it launched on Oct. 7, Palestine’s UN envoy said here Thursday.
“I repeat, 3,000 children, innocent children, angels killed in Gaza during the last three weeks,” Riyad Mansour said in an emotional address to an emergency UN General Assembly session on the Israel-Palestine conflict.
“There is no time to mourn, more death is on the way,” Mansour said fighting his tears back. His voice choked as he described individual stories of killed or injured Palestinian children in Israeli airstrikes.
He said 7,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks in Gaza, saying that fully 70% of all those killed are women and children.
“Is this the war that some of you are defending? Can this war be defended?” he asked delegates.
“How can representatives of states explain how horrible it is that 1,000 Israelis were killed and not feel the same outrage when 1,000 Palestinians are now killed every day,” he said.
“These are crimes. This is barbarism. If you don’t stop it for all those who were killed, stop it for all those whose lives we can still save,” he implored.
Some 1,600 Palestinians still lie under the rubble, killed or injured and no one can reach them, to save them or bury them, he said.
The ambassador also Israel has destroyed over 40% of all homes in Gaza, making an entire population homeless and displacing 1.4 million people, in the hope to forcibly transferring them outside of the territory.
Mansour also cited Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen’s remarks at the Security Council calling for the release of the hostages held by Hamas, saying: “Bring them home.”
“For millions of Palestinians, there is no home to go back to. For thousands, there is no family left to embrace. Not by an act of God, but by the acts of a government represented here,” said Mansour.
“Vengeance is dead and the only path forward is justice,” he added.
Mansour emphasised that no circumstances could justify war crimes and crimes against humanity, making a passionate plea for an urgent cessation of the killing.
He pointed out that attempting to justify Israel’s actions was regressive and detrimental to the situation.
Mansour also underscored the remarkable resilience of Palestinians, who have endured decades of occupation, 16 years of blockade, and five wars in Gaza.
He emphasised that the answer to the Israeli and Palestinian conflict is not further violence but rather a commitment to upholding UN principles and ensuring a peaceful future for coming generations.
He asserted that justice for the Palestinian people is the only viable path forward, urging the UN membership to vote to end the violence and the prevailing double standards.
Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been running out of food, water, medicine, and fuel, and aid convoys recently allowed into Gaza have carried only a fraction of what is needed. — Agencies
