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26-10-2023
GAZA CITY: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has lashed out at Israel for violating international humanitarian law as a senior doctors in the besieged territory said that Israel of using new “deadly weapons” against the civilians in Gaza.
More than 5,700 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, have been martyred across the Gaza Strip in Israeli strikes, according to Gaza health officials.
The ministry put Tuesday´s toll at more than 700 people, with the UN saying it was the highest reported in a single day since the war began.
Overnight, at least 80 people were martyred, the Hamas government said on Wednesday.
The Israeli military has bombed entire neighborhoods in the blockaded territory in response to unprecedented Hamas attacks inside Israel on October 7 that killed at least 1,400 people.
Opening an important UNSC session, Guterres said there was no excuse for the “appalling” violence by Hamas on October 7 but also warned against “collective punishment” of the Palestinians.
“I am deeply concerned about the clear violations of international humanitarian law that we are witnessing in Gaza. Let me be clear: No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” Guterres said, without explicitly naming Israel.
Guterres also said that the Hamas attacks “did not happen in a vacuum” as the Palestinians have been “subjected to 56 years of suffocating occupation”.
The UN chief urged an immediate ceasefire as Israel pounds the Palestinian territory in response to Hamas attacks, with the crisis deeply dividing the Security Council.
Israel voiced anger over the UN chief´s plea before a high-level session of the Security Council, where the Palestinian foreign minister in turn denounced what he described as inaction in the conflict that has killed thousands on both sides, mostly civilians.
His remarks infuriated Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen who, pointing his finger at Guterres and raising his voice, recounted graphic accounts of civilians including young children killed in the deadliest single attack in Israeli history.
“Secretary-General, in what world do you live?” Cohen said.
Rejecting tying the violence to the occupation, Cohen said Israel gave Gaza to the Palestinians “to the last millimeter” with its withdrawal in 2005. (Int’l Monitoring Desk)
