Latest news with #Mansour
Hindustan Times
a day ago
- Politics
- Hindustan Times
Palestine envoy breaks down in UNSC over Gaza horror; ‘Flames & hunger devouring our children…'
Palestine's Permanent Representative to the UN Riyad Mansour couldn't hold back his tears as he narrated the ordeal of Palestinians in Gaza during a UNSC meeting on May 28. Member states as well as UN officials spoke about and highlighted the deteriorating situation in Gaza, citing starvation, displacement and trauma among civilians. Mansour detailed the ordeal of Palestinians since Israel renewed its war in March, giving estimates of the number of children injured or killed in two months. Watch his full speech here.
Yahoo
2 days ago
- Health
- Yahoo
‘Heinous crime': Israel kills 10 desperate aid seekers in Gaza in 48 hours
At least 10 Palestinians desperately seeking aid from a contentious and heavily criticised United States-backed organisation have been killed by Israeli forces in Gaza over the last 48 hours, according to the besieged enclave's Government Media Office. The updated toll on Wednesday comes a day after a harrowing video showed thousands of starving Palestinians rushing to get aid, with many of them herded into cage-like lines, from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF) distribution point in Rafah in southern Gaza. In a statement, the Government Media Office said Israeli forces 'opened direct fire on hungry Palestinian civilians who had gathered to receive aid' at the distribution site, wounding at least 62 people. It was not immediately clear exactly how many incidents of gunfire occurred or on which days the 10 Palestinians were fatally shot, but there were deaths on both days. 'These locations were transformed into death traps under the occupation's gunfire,' the media office said, decrying the killings as a 'heinous crime'. For its part, the GHF said it had opened a second of a planned four aid distribution sites in Gaza on Wednesday. The centres are part of an aid delivery scheme that has been roundly condemned by United Nations officials and the humanitarian community, who have repeatedly said that life-saving aid could be adequately and safely scaled up in Gaza if Israel would allow access to aid and let those organisations that have decades of experience handle the flow. Speaking earlier in the day, the head of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, decried the US-backed delivery model as a 'distraction from atrocities' and called on Israel to allow the UN-backed humanitarian system to 'do its life-saving work now'. The message was echoed by several members of the UN Security Council during a meeting in New York discussing the conflict, with Algeria, France and the United Kingdom among those appealing for Israel to allow unfettered aid Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, said Israel was using 'aid as a weapon of war'. Reporting from UN headquarters, Al Jazeera's Kristen Saloomey said that Sigrid Kaag, the UN's special coordinator for Middle East peace, and Feroze Sidhwa, a surgeon who recently went on a humanitarian mission to Gaza, were among those who addressed the council. 'The message from both of these experts was again calling for a ceasefire and the full resumption of aid into the Gaza Strip,' she said. Israel's ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, criticised the UN for what he said were 'attempts to block access to aid' and demanded a retraction from Tom Fletcher, the UN's humanitarian chief, for accusing Israel of committing genocide. Al Jazeera's senior political analyst Marwan Bishara said the attacks levied by Danon should come as no surprise. 'They are on the defensive, knowing all too well that they lost their public relations campaign and that their reputation around the world is in the mud,' he said, referring to Israel's near-daily bombardment and siege of Gaza. The alternate US representative at the UN, John Kelley, said that the UN should 'work with the GHF and Israel to reach an agreement on how to operationalise this system in a way that works for all'. He maintained that the GHF was 'independent' and developed to 'provide a secure mechanism for the delivery of aid to those in need'. As the debate over aid access raged, Israel's punishing attacks continued across Gaza, with rights observers warning of an even worsening humanitarian situation. At least 63 people were killed in Israeli attacks since the early hours of Wednesday, according to medical sources speaking to Al Jazeera Arabic, bringing the death toll since October 7, 2023, to at least 54,084 Palestinians, with more than 123,308 wounded. The ministry added that only 17 hospitals in Gaza remained partially functioning, with critical shortages of essential medicines and oxygen supplies. Separately, the Red Cross reported that its field hospital in southern Gaza's al-Mawasi area came under Israeli fire early on Wednesday, causing panic and injuries among patients an open letter, Medical Aid for Palestinians (MAP), Oxfam and other nonprofit groups called for 'full, independent and international investigations into the attacks on healthcare in Gaza as violations of international humanitarian law'. The UN's World Food Programme, meanwhile, reported that its warehouse in central Gaza's Deir el-Balah had been broken into by hungry people 'in search of food supplies'. Preliminary reports indicate that at least four people were killed amid the stampede and gunfire, though the cause of the latter was not immediately clear. The agency said that increasing aid was 'the only way to reassure people that they will not starve'. Al Jazeera's Hani Mahmoud reported from Gaza City that the search for food has proven deadly, even away from crowded distribution areas. 'For example, in the past couple of hours, two people were reported killed in the Shujayea neighbourhood [of Gaza City]. They were killed trying to get to their homes,' he said. 'They were forced to evacuate in the past few weeks. They left everything behind. All of their belongings, all of their food supplies that they managed to get … [were] inside the house.' As the attacks have continued, a breakthrough for a more lasting agreement to end the fighting has remained elusive. Still, US President Donald Trump's special envoy to the Middle East, Steve Witkoff, on Wednesday said he had 'very good feelings' about soon reaching a long-term solution. That came shortly after Hamas said it had reached an agreement with Witkoff on a general framework for a permanent ceasefire, a complete withdrawal of Israeli forces from Gaza and the unhindered entry of humanitarian framework appears at odds with the position of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has said the Israeli military would remain in Gaza indefinitely, continuing to control aid access and pursuing the complete defeat of Hamas. Speaking to Israel's parliament on Wednesday, Netanyahu listed top Hamas officials killed throughout the war. The list included Mohammed Sinwar, the brother and successor of killed Hamas military leader Yahya Sinwar. Hamas has not yet confirmed Mohammed Sinwar's death.
Al-Ahram Weekly
2 days ago
- Politics
- Al-Ahram Weekly
Israel using aid as a weapon of war: Palestine UN envoy - War on Gaza
As famine tightens its grip on Gaza, Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour accused Israel of weaponising both hunger and humanitarian aid, warning that the war has turned even relief into a tool of siege, during a UN Security Council session on Wednesday. This hearing is happening against a backdrop of utter despair in Gaza and the sidelining of the United Nations in its efforts to bring aid to Gaza. The longest-standing aid operations in Gaza, of course, have been from the UN. Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, stressed that Israel used 'starvation being used as a weapon of war, now we see aid being used as a weapon of war'. He pointed to repeated public statements by Israeli officials as evidence of Israel's deliberate policy of using humanitarian aid as a tool to advance its military and political objectives. 'There is cruelty in the bombardments, cruelty in the wanton destruction, cruelty in the blockade, and even cruelty in the distribution of very limited aid', added Mansour. "Children are dying of starvation," Mansour said. The images of mothers embracing their motionless bodies, caressing their hair, talking to them, apologizing to them, is unbearable," he added, breaking down in tears as he addresses the Council. 'I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families.' Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour breaks down in tears as he addresses the UN Security Council on the situation in 📺 Sky 501, Virgin 602 — Sky News (@SkyNews) May 28, 2025 "I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families." He said Israel's deliberate manipulation of aid deliveries amounts to a new form of aggression against Palestinians already reeling under occupation. The Palestinian diplomat rejected the framing of limited aid deliveries as a humanitarian gesture. 'Who said these should be our choices? A full blockade against an entire civilian population, including 1 million children, depriving them of food, water, medicine, shelter – or a system of aid that is degrading, discriminatory, limited to food and limited in quantity, and which aims at the forcible displacement of the population and at facilitating the unlawful seizing of land.' Mansour also described the desperation of Palestinians who have been forced to break through barriers just to access basic aid. 'The images of hungry, desperate people storming out of the cages they were forced into, in order to get aid, is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. These are people, human beings, deprived of water, food, medicine for so long, and hanging to life by a thread.' The Algerian Ambassador asked the hearing session, 'How many more must die before action is taken by the Security Council? How many orphans must roam the ruins of Gaza? How much more blood must be spilt before this council acknowledges that enough is enough? The time for indecision is over'. On his part, the Danish envoy said that it is necessary to represent 'the overwhelming majority of voices in the Security Council when it comes to humanitarian aid being allowed to flow freely and at scale in Gaza'. The ambassador talked about the need for medical access as well, again highlighting the unbearable conditions of people on the ground and the growing concern among the international community that this could not be allowed to go on. 'The highly limited [aid] quantities of recent days are insufficient when it comes to meeting the needs of the populations, especially after 12 long weeks of total blockade. The images of desperate, starving people throwing themselves on trucks and aid distribution points are a tragic illustration of this,' said the French ambassador. Violent settlers assaults In the session, Sigrid Kaag, the special coordinator for Middle East peace, talked to the council about the need to allow the UN back into Gaza, to have unfettered access to the people there, to do the job that they are uniquely qualified to do. James Kariuki, UK Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN said Israel must immediately let aid into Gaza and enable the UN to operate. "The level of human suffering in Gaza is intolerable. Civilians face starvation, displacement and trauma." "Our message to Prime Minister Netanyahu is clear: let aid in and enable the UN to operate, now," he added The Brtish diplomat also condemned the Israeli government's "unacceptable intention" to take control of the Gaza Strip. "Permanent forced displacement is a breach of international humanitarian law." He also condemned the israeli violence in the rest of the occupied Palestinian terriotries: the West Bank and Jerusalem. "Violent settlers continue to assault and abuse Palestinians, forcing entire communities to flee. In Jerusalem, provocative visits to Holy Sites and inflammatory language by Israeli ministers are adding to the tensions." Chanting 'Death to Arabs' and singing 'May your village burn,' young Israeli Jews made their way through Palestinian neighbourhoods of Jerusalem's Old City on Monday, attacking residents of the occupied city. Follow us on: Facebook Instagram Whatsapp Short link:
Time of India
2 days ago
- Health
- Time of India
'How could anyone?…': Palestinian UN envoy breaks down in tears over deaths of Gazan children - The Economic Times Video
Palestinian Ambassador to the United Nations Riyad Mansour delivered an emotional address to the U.N. Security Council on Wednesday (May 28), breaking down in tears as he described the "unbearable" suffering of Palestinian children amid the ongoing war in Gaza. Mansour cited the case of Dr. Alaa al-Najjar, a Palestinian doctor who lost nine of her 10 children after they arrived at the hospital where she worked, already dead and burned.
Middle East Eye
2 days ago
- Politics
- Middle East Eye
Palestinian UN envoy says Israel using aid as 'weapon of war'
Riyad Mansour, the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, slammed Israel on Wednesday at the UN Security Council for using aid as "a weapon of war" and putting starving Palestinians in "cages" "The images of hungry, desperate people storming out of the cages they were forced into, in order to get aid, is gut-wrenching and heartbreaking. These are people, human beings, deprived of water, food, medicine for so long, and hanging to life by a thread," Mansour said. Palestinians have been forced into metal fence barricades as they wait for aid from the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation. "After seeing starvation being used as a weapon of war, now we see aid being used as a weapon of war," he said.
