Amar Bendjama: Immediate Ceasefire Resolution on Gaza “Must be Fully Implemented”

The Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, Amar Bendjama, affirmed that the UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate ceasefire in Gaza “must be fully implemented.”

Bendjama explained in an address he delivered during the monthly meeting of the Security Council on Palestine, on Tuesday, that “Resolution 2728, which we ratified yesterday (Monday), must be entirely implemented,” adding that the United Nations Charter is clear about the binding nature of the resolutions and they are not partially binding”.

He added that “international peace and security are severe issues that should not be dealt with lightly.” He warned that “if that were not the case, even the existence of this body would be called into question,” reaffirming, by the way, Algeria’s firm support for the Secretary-General of the United Nations, Antonio Guterres, in the face of the smear campaigns against him.

“It is horrific to note that the number of kids killed in Gaza exceeds the total number of missing kids in the context of all global conflicts in the past four years,” lamented Mr Bendjama, adding, “This is an aggression against children and an assault on innocence.”

“It is an attack on the future of the Palestinian people and their existence in their homeland,” and “the crimes committed by the occupation forces have exceeded all imaginable limits,” he added.

After sounding the alarm about the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza, Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations condemned “the decision of the occupying forces to prevent UNRWA convoys from entering northern Gaza.”

In this regard, he described the UN agency as “the backbone of humanitarian work in Gaza” and “indispensable,” denouncing the “war of famine.”

In this context, Ambassador Bendjama believed that “urgent action must be taken to accelerate humanitarian relief efforts before the threat of famine looms, as predicted in the latest report of the Integrated Food Security Phase Classification, which expects famine to occur by May 2024.”

Bendjama also called on the Security Council to “examine urgent ways to ensure the full implementation of Resolution 2334 before the destruction of any possibility of establishing a Palestinian state due to the dominance of settlers and settlements.”

He regrets that “despite the international consensus on their illegality, these settlements continue to multiply every month, while the Security Council is unable to implement Resolution 2334, which was voted on 8 years ago.”

He asserted that “this resolution clearly condemns these settlements as a flagrant violation of international law and a major obstacle to the establishment of a Palestinian state,” noting that “the number of settlers has quadrupled since the 1990s, reaching more than 950,000 people” today.

“In fact, it is legitimate to ask about the fate of these new arrivals to the Palestinian territories and how the Palestinian state is expected to become amid settlement expansion and ongoing demographic changes,” he added.

For Ambassador Ammar Bendjama, “this expansionist strategy is clear,” and aims to “change the demographic landscape and character of the occupied Palestinian territories.”