Algeria – Algeria warned, on Sunday evening, of the possibility that Israel would use the Iranian retaliatory attack on it as a “pretext” to invade the city of Rafah, in the far south of Gaza, as part of the ongoing war on the Strip for more than 6 months.
This warning was issued by Algeria, through its Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Nassim Qawawi, during an emergency session of the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, the day following Iran launched an unprecedented retaliatory attack on Israel from its territory.
The Secretary-General of the United Nations, António Guterres, spoke at this session, along with the fifteen member states of the Council, and representatives of Israel, Iran, and Syria, according to the website of the international organization.
The Algerian deputy delegate said that his country warned, following the attack on the Iranian diplomatic mission in Damascus, “of the consequences of not putting an end to the behavior of the Israeli occupation and its arrogance in the region.”
Qawi added, “The truth of these warnings is evident today.”
In early April, a missile attack targeted the consular section of the Iranian embassy in Damascus, and Tehran accused Tel Aviv of carrying it out. As a result, 7 members of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard were killed, including prominent General Mohammad Reza Zahedi.
Tel Aviv did not officially acknowledge or deny its responsibility for the Damascus attack, and both Iran and Israel consider the other country their first enemy, and between the two countries there are decades of hostility and accusations of various mutual attacks.
In response to the Damascus attack, on Saturday evening, Iran launched regarding 350 missiles and drones towards Israel, of which Tel Aviv claimed to have intercepted 99 percent, while Tehran said that half of the missiles hit Israeli targets “successfully.”
Qawi added, “The crises in the Middle East are interconnected, and some of them cannot be considered in isolation from the other, and the root causes of these crises, which are the Israeli occupation, must be dealt with.”
He stressed the need for “the recent developments (the Iranian response) not to cover up the central issue, which is the attack on the defenseless Palestinian people in Gaza, or to be used as a pretext or cover to launch a ground attack on Rafah.”
The Algerian deputy delegate stressed that “any attack on Rafah is completely rejected and must be avoided, and its repercussions will be disastrous for the region.”
Following consultations with the security system in Israel, its Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, decided on Sunday to postpone the ground operation in Rafah, even though he announced regarding a week ago that he had set a date for its implementation (which was not disclosed), according to the Hebrew Broadcasting Corporation (official).
Qawawi said, “Calming matters in the Middle East in the short term comes through an immediate ceasefire in Gaza, and putting an end to the machine of barbaric killing and collective punishment of the Palestinian people.”
Since October 7, 2023, Israel has been waging a devastating war on Gaza, leaving more than 100,000 dead and wounded, most of them children and women, and massive destruction and famine that claimed the lives of children and the elderly, according to Palestinian and UN data.
Israel continues the war despite the issuance of an immediate ceasefire resolution by the Security Council, as well as despite its first appearance before the International Court of Justice on charges of committing “genocide.”
Anatolia
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2024-04-16 04:40:33