05/16/2021 12:48 PM
Clarín.com
World
Updated 05/16/2021 12:48 PM
The Palestinian Minister of Foreign Affairs, Riyad Al-Maliki, denounced in the emergency meeting of the UN Security Council the
"aggression"
of Israel against the "Palestinian people" and their "holy places", while the Government of Israel accused Hamas of
having "premeditated"
the conflict.
"Some do not want to use these words -
war crimes and crimes against humanity
- but they know it is the truth," Al-Maliki said.
The Palestinian minister also criticized the "colonial policy" of the Israelis.
Meanwhile, Israel accused the Palestinian Hamas movement
of having "premeditated" the conflict.
Near Tel Aviv, a building hit by a missile launched from Gaza.
AFP photo
"Hamas chose to accelerate the tensions
, using them as a pretext, to start this war" with Israel, diplomat Gilad Erdan told an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the Middle East.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicated at the end of his Council of Ministers meeting that
the fight against Hamas "continues at full power"
and has asked for time to resolve the situation.
Likewise, the Israeli president said that Israel
has the support of the international community
, starting with the president of the United States, Joe Biden, whom he thanked for his support of the Army's operation against the Palestinian Islamist movement, as quoted by the newspaper. Israeli
'Haaretz
.
"It will take some time," he added.
For his part, the UN Secretary General, Antonio Guterres, said that "this senseless cycle of bloodshed, of terror, of destruction,
must stop immediately
", because it can "unleash an uncontrollable crisis."
According to diplomats, the Council is negotiating a declaration in parallel but this morning the support of the United States for
the text remained uncertain.
"The clashes must stop immediately. The rockets and mortars on one side and the aerial bombardments and artillery on the other have to end," Guterres emphasized.
"The clashes
can lead Israelis and Palestinians into a spiral of violence
with devastating consequences for the two communities and for the entire region," he said.
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
AFP photo
The violence "has the potential to unleash an uncontrollable humanitarian and security crisis and to further stimulate extremism; not only in the occupied Palestinian territories and in Israel, but throughout the region," he added.
The palestinians
The Palestinian Foreign Minister, Riyad al Malki, denounced the Israeli attacks on Gaza to the UN and demanded that the international community condemn them and take measures to stop this "aggression" and to
end the "apartheid
" created by the Israeli authorities. .
"There are no words to describe the horrors
that our people are suffering," Al Malki said in a videoconference speech before the United Nations Security Council, which met urgently to address the crisis in the Middle East.
The head of Palestinian diplomacy highlighted the high number of civilian victims, including many children, who are leaving the Israeli bombings in Gaza and accused the world of being, in some way, an accomplice.
"Every time Israel hears a foreign leader speak of their right to defend themselves, it becomes even more emboldened to continue murdering entire families in their sleep," he said.
"How many murdered Palestinian civilians does it take for a conviction?"
asked Al Malki, who accused Israel of committing "war crimes and crimes against humanity."
In that sense, the minister wondered what the Palestinians have the right to do to resist and defend themselves: "Is violence when Palestinians commit terrorism and when Israel commit self-defense?"
Al Malki listed a whole series of measures that the international community could take to stop Israel, from the deployment of protection forces to the imposition of an arms embargo, and demanded that the Security Council powers
assume their responsibility to promote peace.
According to the minister, the Palestinians have chosen the peaceful path to achieve their independence and freedom, but they cannot be expected to live indefinitely under an illegal occupation and apartheid imposed by Israel.
As he said, the conflict will not be resolved until it is guaranteed that "Israel pays a price for the occupation instead of taking its benefits" and stops requiring the Palestinians to coexist with
"their occupiers."
"Our people are never going to give up or renounce their rights. Palestinian freedom is the only way to peace and, since peace is the responsibility of this Council, helping to achieve the freedom of Palestine is their legal and moral duty." , he concluded.
Source: AFP and EFE
PB
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