By Awad Rajoob
RAMALLAH, Palestine (AA) – Palestine's permanent representative to the UN warned Tuesday that hundreds of thousands of Palestinians in northern Gaza face imminent execution for refusing to abandon their land and homes, criticizing those who protect Israel, their tormentors.
Riyad Mansour was speaking at a session of the UN Security Council focused on the situation in the Middle East.
After addressing the conditions in Gaza, particularly its northern areas, Mansour said “hundreds of thousands of Palestinians are at immediate risk of death and face execution for refusing to leave their lands.”
“Palestinians are besieged and subjected to bombing and starvation. They know that if they leave their areas, they will not be allowed to return,” he added.
The Israeli army has continued a deadly onslaught in northern Gaza since Oct. 5 to allegedly prevent the Palestinian group Hamas from regrouping amid a siege of the area. Palestinians, however, accuse Israel of seeking to occupy the area and forcibly displace its residents.
Mansour emphasized that the Palestinian people “cannot understand how their torturers (the Israelis) continue to receive protection while Palestinian victims are abandoned.”
“As we attempt to end Israel's impunity, it continues to commit crime after crime, challenging all nations and the UN,” he stressed.
He pointed to “unprecedented attacks against the UN, humanitarian organizations and the media as Israel seeks to intimidate and silence them.”
He noted that “Israel is at war with the UN and has crossed every red line, violated every rule and challenged every prohibition.”
The Israeli army has continued its devastating offensive on the Gaza Strip since a cross-border incursion by Hamas last October, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 43,060 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,200 injured, according to local health authorities.
The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water and medicine.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
*Writing by Mohammad Sio