CAIRO – Egypt’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations in Geneva Ahmed Ihab Gamal El Din, in his capacity as chairman of the Arab Group, has chaired an expanded briefing session on the latest developments as regards the situation in the Gaza Strip.
The session saw wide participation from representatives of diplomatic missions, international organizations, and the news agencies accredited to the United Nations headquarters in Geneva.
The attendees, according to MENA, listened to briefings by several heads of international organizations on the deteriorating humanitarian conditions in Gaza, including the president of the International Committee of the Red Cross, the United Nations Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs and Emergency Relief Coordinator, the president of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies, the Secretary-General of international aid group Medecins Sans Frontieres (Doctors Without Borders), the head of the UN Human Rights Office in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the director of the Health Emergencies Interventions at the World Health Organization, the director of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD)’s globalization and development strategies division, and the regional director for the Middle East at the Norwegian Refugee Council.
Egypt’s permanent representative to the United Nations referred in his opening remarks to the catastrophic humanitarian repercussions witnessed by the Gaza Strip; as the Israeli aggression enters its fifth month and the number of victims exceeds 100,000 including those killed, wounded and missing, the Foreign Ministry said on its official Facebook page.
Gamal El Din warned of the consequences of Israel’s carrying out a military operation in Rafah, which he said is the last safe haven for about 1.4 million Palestinians displaced from the rest of the Gaza Strip.
He also emphasized the necessity of reaching a ceasefire, implementing UN Security Council Resolution No. 2720 and activating the humanitarian mechanism established pursuant to it, as well as working to open all crossings and increase the flow of humanitarian aid to civilians.
Gamal El Din pointed out to Israel’s deliberate obstruction of the delivery of humanitarian aid to the Gaza Strip, stressing the need for Israel – the occupying state – to comply with its obligations under international humanitarian law.
He also renewed the Arab Group’s rejection of any attempts to forcibly displace the Palestinian people from their land, and its call on the international community to work on achieving just and comprehensive political solution to the Palestinian issue based on international legitimacy so that the Palestinian people can enjoy their inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of their state on their land.
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