S/PV.6061
6061st meeting
Tuesday, 6 January 2009, 5 p.m.
New York
The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question
Mr. Shalgham (Libyan Arab Jamahiriya) (spoke in Arabic): On 27 December 2008, the Israelis launched their destructive aggression, making use a wide variety of the most lethal weapons against defenceless people, having previously besieged and starved them and having deprived them even of water, medicine and other necessities — acts which met with astonishing silence from the Security Council. The Israelis claim to have carried out these actions in response to the firing of rockets from the Gaza Strip, which, according to them, was a violation of the truce agreed upon in June 2008.
Here, we must stop for a moment and consider the facts. Members know that the Gaza Strip has been under siege since the middle of 2007. Under Egyptian auspices, the Israelis and the Palestinians reached a Gaza truce in June 2008. Both parties undertook to cease all forms of violence, and, for its part, the Israeli side committed itself to lifting the blockade, opening the border crossings and returning to the situation that had existed prior to June 2007. This agreed lull was intended to put an end to aggression and fighting for a period during which the two parties concerned would observe the ceasefire as a stage on the way towards a just and final settlement of the Palestinian issue.
But from the very first days of the ceasefire, the Israelis, through their Prime Minister, have adopted a highly negative position. They have preferred to employ force, escalation and aggression at the expense of lasting peace. Israel has essentially not been a party to the ceasefire, which it unjustifiably violated more than 195 times, martyring 25 individuals.
Israel has not lifted the siege or reopened the crossings. On 4 November 2008 the Israeli army carried out an incursion into the eastern Gaza Strip with no provocation from the Palestinian side; during that incursion six Palestinians were killed. That was a serious violation of the truce. It is only normal that there should be a response. The ceasefire must not be respected by the Palestinians only.
Yet in spite of this, in all that time the Palestinians did not fire a single shot, even though they were entitled to do so because they are under occupation and are entitled to respond to Israeli aggression.
Since 5 November 2008, in full view of the entire world, the Israelis have imposed a complete air, land and sea blockade on Gaza. The United Nations considers that to be a clear violation of international law. The blockade even prevents humanitarian assistance from reaching Gaza: trucks and assistance provided by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) are unable to enter the Gaza Strip. This means that the Agency has had to suspend its distribution of basic goods to those in need. As everybody knows, that means half of the population of Gaza. The result is that they have starved those people.
On 18 December 2008 (see S/PV.6049), my country described the various repercussions of the blockade and the total paralysis of economic activity. Bakeries have closed; 80 per cent of households are living below the poverty line; there are grave water and sanitation problems — the people of Gaza have water only once a week. Water treatment plants are no longer in operation, which means that stagnant water now lies in the streets of Gaza. There is virtually a complete lack of medicine. The Council has heard from numerous United Nations agencies that 150 essential medicines are not to be found. Many people have died for lack of medicine and because they are being prevented from seeking treatment outside Gaza.
The electric power plant that provided more than half of Gaza’s electricity is basically shut down. Banks are no longer operating and are on the verge of collapse. The World Bank has drawn attention to this issue, because the Israelis have prevented Bank funds from entering the Gaza Strip.
The multifaceted fallout from the blockade is well known.
All of this has been done in the full view of the Security Council and in spite of numerous appeals and warnings from officials of United Nations agencies. The Council has failed to take action.
The underlying causes and principal reasons for this situation are the occupation, the denial to Palestinians of their rights and the immoral and illegal practices of the Israelis.
The Israeli authorities are occupation authorities; they have clear obligations under international law, in particular under the Fourth Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War. Obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention include provision of security, food and medical services and the facilitation of emergency services. But the Israeli authorities have nonetheless violated all of their obligations and have imposed collective punishment. They have perpetrated extremely grave crimes, as everyone knows. All of this has taken place after the international community’s unanimous declaration on genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In spite of that, the Council has failed to take action. The fact that the Council has taken no action has encouraged the Israeli authorities in their actions since 27 December 2008. Air raids, employing cutting-edge weaponry, have been stepped up. There we see the origins of the crimes of genocide and crimes against humanity.
Through their Minister of Defence and other officials, the Israeli authorities continue to state that these crimes are only the beginning, and that Israel will continue and expand its aggression. Israel will continue the blockade, which is starving Palestinians. Israel has rejected humanitarian appeals for a 24-hour lull to make it possible to deliver humanitarian assistance.
Now there has been a very serious escalation: the ground attack that began on Saturday, 3 January 2009. The result, we fear, has been a major surge in deaths and injuries. There has been destruction, even of UNRWA schools — even though Karen AbuZayd, Commissioner-General of UNRWA, has said that the Palestinian resistance is not using the Agency’s infrastructure, facilities or schools as human shields.
In spite of the Security Council’s urgent consultations on 3 January 2009, no common position has been adopted, not even a statement to the press.
The Israelis have once again demonstrated that they are not interested in peace. What they are interested in is new territory. They are perpetrating terrorism against the Palestinians and are using every means available to them. They are starving, arresting and killing Palestinians on a mass scale. The aim of what the Israelis are methodically doing is clear. The means they use are also clear, What the Israelis continue to do is to perpetrate the greatest violence in the history of the Israeli occupation. That is Israel’s response to resolution 1850 (2008) of 16 December 2008.
The vacillation of the Council and its hesitation on taking a decision and adopting a resolution have permitted the Israeli war machine to continue to perpetrate the worst of horrors against a defenceless people and to ignore international law. The Council is now repeating what it did in 2006, when it gave Israel the leeway to keep killing Lebanese civilians and to destroy Lebanon’s basic infrastructure in order to achieve the aims of certain parties.
The fact is that the massacre perpetrated by Israel in Gaza continues and has claimed the lives of some 600 Palestinians, more than a fourth of them babies, women and children and 80 per cent of them civilians. In addition, 2,800 have been wounded, 20 per cent of whom are in critical condition; mosques, homes, schools and official buildings have been destroyed. The deterioration in the humanitarian situation that we are seeing today is astonishing. A school was targeted today and dozens were killed; the school was not a bunker. The Council should ensure that the criminals responsible do not escape punishment.
My delegation has submitted a draft resolution to the Council. We have made several changes to take the concerns of various members into account. We hope that the Council will adopt the draft resolution. Every minute that passes means more suffering, destruction, killing, hatred and desire for vengeance. Any delay would send the wrong message to the aggressor, who would continue with its aggression and crimes.
