Bendjama: “The UN Security Council must act decisively to impose a ceasefire in Gaza”” 

The Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations, Ambassador Amar Bendjama affirmed on Tuesday that the Security Council must “act decisively” to impose a ceasefire in Gaza, in order to put an end to the collective punishment being inflicted on the oppressed people of Gaza.

In a speech delivered during the session dedicated to discussing the famine in northern Gaza, Mr. Bendjama said, “The Security Council must now act decisively to impose an immediate, unconditional, and permanent ceasefire to put an end to the collective punishment faced by the Palestinians in Gaza and to uphold our commitment to international humanitarian law.”

The  ambassador confirmed during the UN Security Council session convened at the request of Algeria, Guyana, Slovenia, and Switzerland, “that the deterioration of the situation in Gaza (…) It was expected, as the Palestinians, who were already suffering, are now facing famine.

Mr. Bendjama expressed his regret, saying: “Humanitarian organizations have repeatedly sounded the alarm (about the situation in northern Gaza), while the international community remains unable to put an end to the Zionist aggression.”
He emphasized, as President Abdelmadjid Tebboune previously stated, that “this aggression, if it indicates anything, it indicates the failure of the international community to enforce respect for globally accepted rules.”

The representative of Algeria also insisted that “the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza is not coincidental, but rather the result of a deliberate deprivation policy imposed by the occupying power,” recalling what the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Food, Michael Fakhri, said in December 2023, that “the Palestinians in Gaza represent 80% of the world’s population suffering from famine or tragic hunger.”

He further affirmed that the Zionist entity seeks to “empty northern Gaza of its residents,” adding that this is “a policy adopted by the Zionist entity to systematically displace Palestinians from the area.”
He  also underlined that the Zionist authorities “have confirmed beyond any doubt that Palestinians will not be permitted to return to their homes in northern Gaza.”

He also  stated that this decision “represents a blatant violation of Security Council resolutions, including Resolution 2735, which guarantees the right of displaced persons to return to their homes.”

He explained that “despite the repeated calls from the international community, the resolutions adopted by the Security Council, and the mechanisms established by the United Nations, only 37 trucks of humanitarian aid entered Gaza daily during the past month of October,” noting that a year ago, the number of trucks was 500.

“Amid this crisis, the occupying authorities decided to terminate the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) in the occupied Palestinian territories, as this decision represents a new practice within the framework of collective punishment against the Palestinian people,” added Mr. Bendjama

He finally condemned the statements of the Zionist Minister of Finance, who sees starving two million residents of Gaza as “just and ethical,” stressing, “And as members of the Security Council, we must respect our moral and legal obligations.” (…) The lives of children, women, the elderly, and all civilians are in danger. We cannot leave these people to face the occupying force alone. (…) “that despises human life.”