Algerian delegation to the United Nations Security Council staged a walkout as an Israeli diplomat gave a speech. Other delegations also walked out in protest of Tel Aviv’s ongoing bombardment of Gaza.
Algeria’s delegation to the UN walked out as the Israeli representative began to give his speech yesterday. Minister of Foreign Affairs of Algeria Ahmed Attaf left the hall, followed by other representatives of Algiers. Delegations from a number of other countries followed suit.
During his speech, Attaf called for an immediate cessation of Israeli bombings on Gaza which have left more than 6,000 dead since 7 October, adding that the current situation has been reached as a result of the “almost total marginalisation” of the Palestinian cause and the “denigration of its importance” on the international agenda.“It is also about unjustifiable complacency with regard to the Zionist occupation which enjoys absolute, limitless, unconditional and unjustified immunity,” he added.
During yesterday’s session, held to address the “Israel-Gaza Crisis”, UN Secretary-General, Antonio Guterres, warned the Security Council that “the situation in the Middle East is growing more dire by the hour” and “the war in Gaza is raging and risks spiraling throughout the region.”
You may recall that on 17th, the Israeli bombardment has struck a packed hospital compound in central Gaza, killing an estimated 500 people, including patients and displaced Palestinians sheltering inside, according to officials in the besieged Gaza Strip.
The health ministry in Gaza said Wednesday’s blast at the al-Ahli Arab Hospital was caused by an Israeli air raid. Israel has attributed the explosion to a misfired rocket launched by the Palestinian Islamic Jihad (PIJ) armed group. The PIJ has denied the allegation.
The attack quickly sparked international condemnation, as news outlets and social media became filled with images of burning rooms and heavy stretchers.
“This is outrageous and again it shows a flagrant disregard for the lives of civilians,” the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) said on social media.
Jordan’s King Abdullah II, meanwhile, called the attack a “massacre” and a “shame on humanity”.
The Gaza health ministry issued a statement explaining the hospital had served a vital role in offering shelter to civilians.
“The hospital was housing hundreds of sick and wounded, and people forcibly displaced from their homes,” the ministry said.
Tens of thousands of families have flocked to Gaza’s overwhelmed hospitals seeking refuge from seemingly endless Israeli army shelling.
Al Jazeera footage from the scene showed medics and civilians recovering bodies with white bags or blankets. Bloodstains and multiple torched cars were visible in the darkened hospital courtyard.
