2023-11-29 17:35:22
UN Secretary-General António Guterres has once again called for a permanent end to hostilities between Israel and the Islamist terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip. “Intense negotiations are taking place to extend the ceasefire, which we very much welcome. But we believe that we need a real humanitarian ceasefire,” Guterres said on Wednesday at a meeting of the UN Security Council in New York. Israel immediately rejected the request.
“Anyone who supports a ceasefire fundamentally supports Hamas’ continued reign of terror in Gaza,” Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan told the most powerful UN body in New York on Wednesday. Israel cannot protect its citizens with a ceasefire.
One cannot call for a ceasefire and at the same time claim to be looking for a solution to the conflict. The militant Hamas is not a partner for a reliable peace. “Don’t you see the contradiction here – that the demand for a ceasefire and peace is a paradox?” Erdan continued. There could only be an end to the violence if Hamas handed over all the hostages and all the terrorists involved in the attack on Israel on October 7th.
Guterres, in turn, put it: “The people of Gaza are in the midst of an epic humanitarian catastrophe before the eyes of the world. We must not look away. In just a few weeks, far more children have been killed in Israeli military operations in Gaza than the total number of children in Gaza years since my term as Secretary General have been killed by a party to the conflict.” Four out of five people in Gaza have been driven from their homes. 111 UN employees were also killed by Israeli attacks – the highest number of UN casualties ever. “45 percent of all houses in the Gaza Strip are damaged or destroyed,” complained Guterres.
Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki told the Security Council meeting that the Palestinian people face an “existential threat” in the conflict. “Israel has no right to self-defense against a people that occupies it,” said al-Maliki.
In the war between Israel and the radical Islamic Hamas, which has lasted more than seven weeks, a ceasefire came into force last Friday and is due to end on Thursday morning. Since the ceasefire came into force, a total of 60 Israeli women and children as well as 21 other foreign hostages, mostly guest workers from Thailand, have been released by Hamas under the mediation of Qatar, Egypt and the USA. In return, Israel has so far released 180 Palestinian prisoners from its prisons.
Shortly before the end of the ceasefire in the Gaza war, there were intensive negotiations about an extension on Wednesday. US Secretary of State Antony Blinken pledged on Wednesday after a NATO foreign ministers’ meeting in Brussels to “do everything in our power to extend the pause.” At the same time, we will discuss with Israel how the country can achieve the goal of never repeating terrorist attacks like the one on October 7th.
Blinken also expressed his belief that continuing the ceasefire was also in the interest of the Israelis. “They are also concentrating intensely on bringing their people home,” said the American, referring to the Israeli hostages still being held in the Gaza Strip. According to his own statements, the Foreign Minister will be in Israel again this Thursday and will hold talks with the government there. It is his third visit since the conflict began.
The Islamist Hamas said it was working hard on a possible extension, as a spokesman told the Al Jazeera news channel. On Wednesday evening, 10 Israeli hostages were to be released by Hamas, in return for which 30 Palestinian prisoners were to be released from Israeli prisons.
However, it was not yet clear early in the evening whether the talks about extending the ceasefire would be successful. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement that fighting would resume when “this phase of the return of our hostages is complete.” He also reiterated that he wanted to stick to the war goal of destroying Hamas.
In its brutal attack on October 7, Hamas kidnapped around 240 people, including many children. Hundreds of fighters from the militia, classified as a terrorist organization by the USA and the EU, entered Israel and, according to Israeli figures, killed around 1,200 people. In response, Israel bombed targets in the Gaza Strip massively from the air and from the ground for weeks. According to Hamas figures, which cannot be independently verified, nearly 15,000 people were killed in the Palestinian territory.
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