'We are proud people. We are resilient,' says Palestine's UN envoy

By Diyar Guldogan

WASHINGTON (AA) - Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour voiced concern Wednesday about the "horrific situation" in the Gaza Strip and stressed that Palestinians are "proud people."

"I know that all of you know the details of this horrific situation of the Palestinian people in the occupied territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip. The numbers are astounding," Mansour said at the 2024 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

Mansour said the number of Palestinians killed, particularly children and woman, is "the highest number of casualties" in a short time in any conflict since World War II.

"These crimes are beyond descriptions and I still remember very vividly those who went and visited the Gaza Strip, including Mr. Lazzarini, when he said that kids were running after his movement from one place to another, repeating only two words, a piece of bread and water,” he said referring to UNRWA's head Philippe Lazzarini.

"This is the situation of the Palestinian people. We, in our cultures, we never faced famine, hunger, or begging for food. We have a fabulous system of support among us. My mother used to cook for our neighbors before feeding us," Mansour said through tears.

"We are proud people. We are resilient. We haven't seen what we are going through in the Gaza Strip," he said.

He reiterated his call for a cease-fire and said those responsible for inflicting the situation should face justice and should face accountability in every place possible, including the international legal system.

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Palestinian enclave following an Oct. 7 Hamas attack, killing at least 26,900 victims and injuring 65,949 others, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

The Israeli war has left 85% of Gaza’s population internally displaced amid acute shortages of food, clean water and medicine, while more than half of the enclave’s infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.