Ambassador Bendjama: “The UN Security Council must act against the appalling ethnic cleansing of Palestinians”

By targeting health facilities in Gaza, the usurping  Zionist entity is seeking to carry out ethnic cleansing and force Palestinians to leave their land, Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations Ammar Bendjama said Friday, calling on the Security Council to take action.

During a meeting on the situation in the Middle East held at the request of Algeria, which holds the presidency of the Security Council in January, Ambassador Bendjama stated that the ongoing Zionist aggression against the Palestinian people, especially in Gaza, “has a clear objective of driving Palestinians out of their land through a clear policy of ethnic cleansing,” adding that “one of the pillars of this policy is the systematic destruction of the health system.”

The Algerian diplomat also cited a December 31 report by the United Nations Office for Human Rights (OHCHR), which cited 136 savage Zionist bombings that targeted at least 27 hospitals and 12 other medical facilities, causing significant damage.

He added that 53 percent of Gaza’s hospitals are out of service and that “out of 138 first aid centers, only 6 are fully operational and 130 ambulances have been damaged,” adding that “more than 14,000 patients need urgent medical transportation abroad, in addition to the martyrdom of more than 1,000 health workers and the arrest of hundreds of them.”

“Non-governmental organizations have reported cases of torture and ill-treatment against medical personnel, and according to the United Nations, several doctors have been martyred while in the custody of the Zionist authorities.”

He also underscored that vile Zionist practices targeting basic health services and medical personnel “amount to genocidal methods.”

“On December 27, after more than three months of siege and repeated attacks (…), the Zionist occupation forces stormed Kamal Adwan Hospital, one of the most important health facilities in the northern Gaza Strip, and the hospital was targeted by snipers, armored vehicles and drones, terrorizing patients and medical personnel,” Mr. Bendjama asserted.
The Zionist army’s actions include torture, executions, destruction of vital medical equipment and fires that led to the destruction of parts of the hospital,  Ambassador Bendjama said, adding that Zionist forces “sought to close the hospital and put it out of service completely.”

He also explained that the destruction carried out by the Zionist army was not dictated by any military necessity, but was “a deliberate desire to deprive northern Gaza of basic health services and force the population to flee.”

He noted that the deliberate destruction of health infrastructure may constitute “an act of collective punishment, which is considered a war crime under international law.”

He cited the Additional Protocol to the Geneva Convention and UN Security Council Resolution 2286, which emphasize the need to protect medical personnel and health infrastructure during armed conflicts.

“To justify the unjustifiable,” the Zionist occupation authorities claimed that ‘hospitals are being used for military purposes by Palestinian armed groups,’ he said, citing a report by the UN Human Rights Office, which explained that these claims were unsubstantiated and have been refuted by publicly available information.

Mr. Bendjama called for an investigation into the savage Zionist aggression targeting Gaza’s health infrastructure.

He emphasized that the Zionist entity “acts as if international law does not exist or simply does not apply to it.” He explained that the Zionist entity’s barbarity is increased by “a sense of immunity and impunity,” adding that “this impunity must end, and this immunity must end.”

“We must act together to put an end to this tragedy. “It is time for the Security Council to demand an immediate, unconditional and permanent ceasefire in Gaza.