The United Nations Security Council (UNSC) was briefly interrupted after a rare 4.8 magnitude earthquake hit on Friday morning in New York. This was captured in a video posted by the UN on X by Janti Soeripto, president and CEO of “Save the Children” organisation.
Commenting on X after the event, “The #earthquake may have disrupted my remarks at the UN Security Council, but what I called for is far from earth shattering. On behalf of all children in Gaza, I demanded action. The world has the tools to address this crisis. It merely lacks the political will to use them.”
Paying tribute to all the humanitarians who had lost their lives in the conflict she said that “nearly all have been Palestinian. They died serving their communities in, perhaps, the worst conditions of their lives, of their careers.”
“We are hearing world leaders emphasize the importance of humanitarian access and call for deconfliction, the protection of civilians, speedy investigations and lessons learned, the upholding of humanitarian law, and so on. This discourse creates the false impression that the humanitarian system in Gaza is being prioritized. It is not. Words belie the inaction, the apathy,” she said in the address.
“We call on the UN Security Council to pass a permanent ceasefire resolution, including robust measures to ensure compliance by parties to conflict to enforce a ceasefire and the resolutions already passed. Member States must stop fueling the crisis with the weapons they’re selling to the parties of conflict,” she added.
The UN Human Rights Office had said on Friday that attacks against people involved in humanitarian assistance may amount to war crimes, following a deadly strike by Israel against aid workers in the Gaza strip. “Attacking people or objects involved in humanitarian assistance may amount to a war crime,” U.N. Human Rights Office spokesperson Jeremy Laurence said. “As the High Commissioner has repeatedly stated, impunity must end.”
Celebrity Chef and Founder of World Central Kitchen Jose Andres lost seven colleagues when Israeli air strikes hit his convoy on Tuesday. Andres said they shouldn’t have been at risk in the first place because the Israeli Defence Forces (IDF) knew the movements of the convoy. He does not believe Israel’s version that the strike was ‘unintentional’. Global leaders have condemned the deaths of the humanitarian workers. While Australia’s PM Anthony Albanese had called Israel’s explanation “not good enough” Spanish PM Pedro Sanchez had called it “unacceptable.”
In response, Prime Minister Netanyahu had expressed his regret and said the strikes were “unintended.”
Israel then said it has dismissed two officers over the air strikes.
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