 Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann |
Israel has been condemned and accused of breaching international law at a UN General Assembly session for its deadly military strikes on Gaza.
"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell," said the assembly president, Nicaragua's Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann on Thursday.
"Gaza is ablaze. It has been turned into a burning hell," said the assembly president, Nicaragua's Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann on Thursday.
"The violations of international law inherent in the Gaza assault have been well documented: collective punishment; disproportionate military force; attacks on civilian targets, including homes, mosques, universities, schools," D'Escoto added.
UN Deputy Secretary General, Asha-Rose Migiro, meanwhile told the 192-member assembly that UN chief, Ban Ki-moon, currently on a visit to Israel, conveyed "his strong protest and outrage" and demanded an explanation after Israeli shells smashed into a UN compound in Gaza, setting fire to warehouses holding badly-needed aid.
Other Israeli strikes set a hospital wing on fire and wounded two cameramen in a building housing international and Arab media outlets.
D'Escoto deplored the fact that the Israeli offensive, launched to stop rocket firing by Palestinian militants and now in its 20th day, was continuing despite a ceasefire call issued by the 15-member Security Council last week.
"It seems to me ironic that Israel, a state that more than any other owes its very existence to a (1948) General Assembly resolution, should be so disdainful of United Nations resolutions," D'Escoto noted.
After D'Escoto's statement, speaker after speaker blasted the latest Israeli attacks.
Malaysia's UN Ambassador, Hamidon Ali said the proposed resolution should call for a ceasefire, the immediate withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza, an end to the Israeli blockade of the Palestinian enclave and allowing humanitarian aid to reach victims of the conflict.
"It must also call for the establishment of a tribunal to investigate and to prosecute those responsible for the war crimes and crimes against humanity," the Malaysian envoy said. "Finally, sanctions must be imposed for non-compliance."
Palestinian UN observer Ryad Mansour meanwhile called for an independent investigation of Israel's "grave breaches and systematic violations of international law."
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