DGermany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock emphasized Israel’s right to self-defense before the UN Security Council, but also urged the country to comply with international humanitarian law. “The fight is against Hamas and not against civilians. “It is therefore crucial for us that this fight is conducted in accordance with humanitarian law and with the greatest possible consideration for the civilian population in Gaza,” Baerbock said at a high-level Security Council meeting in New York on Tuesday. The lives of all civilians are equally important. The bystanders in the Gaza Strip must be helped with breaks in fighting in “humanitarian windows”.
Baerbock emphasized that Israel, like every state in the world, has the right to defend itself against terrorism within the framework of international law. The Green politician also referred to Germany’s historical responsibility in the face of the Holocaust. “’Never again’ – for me as a German that means that we will not rest when we know that the grandchildren of Holocaust survivors are now being held hostage by terrorists in Gaza,” said the minister. For Germany, Israel’s security is non-negotiable.
In view of the suffering population in the Gaza Strip, Baerbock reiterated her call for a break in fighting in the crisis area. “Humanitarian windows” are needed. According to dpa information, there is a dispute in the EU about the extent to which European countries could support the UN demand for a ceasefire. The use of the word “pauses” in the plural could therefore make it clear that the EU is not calling on Israel to stop the fight against the terrorist organization Hamas with immediate effect. Countries like Germany and Austria definitely want to avoid this impression.
A peace process in the Middle East can only take place within the framework of a two-state solution, Baerbock continued. She spoke as a guest at the debate of the most powerful UN body. Germany is currently not a member of the 15-member Security Council, whose ten non-permanent members are each elected for two-year terms.
Harsh reply to Guterres
The meeting saw an angry confrontation between Israel’s Foreign Minister Eli Cohen and UN Secretary-General António Guterres. “Mr. Secretary General, what world do you live in?” asked Cohen, who vividly described the October 7 attack on Israel by the radical Islamic Hamas. “This is definitely not our world.” Cohen particularly pointed out Guterres’ connection to the violence perpetrated by Hamas of Israeli civilians with the occupation. With its withdrawal from Gaza in 2005, Israel left the area to the Palestinians “down to the last millimeter,” said the minister.
The Israeli UN Ambassador Gilad Erdan even called on Guterres to resign in the short message service X (formerly Twitter). The UN Secretary General gave a “shocking speech” and expressed “understanding of terrorism and murder”. “The UN Secretary General, who shows understanding for the plan to mass murder children, women and the elderly, is not fit to lead the UN,” Erdan wrote. “I call on him to resign immediately.”
At the UN Security Council meeting, Guterres once again strongly condemned the Hamas attack on Israel. But he also said that the attacks by the radical Islamic Palestinian organization “did not occur in a vacuum.” The Palestinians have suffered from “suffocating occupation” for 56 years. Guterres also warned of “collective punishment” for Palestinians following the Hamas attack and denounced “clear violations of international humanitarian law” in the Gaza Strip. “No party to an armed conflict is above international humanitarian law,” said the UN Secretary General, without explicitly naming Israel. “To alleviate unimaginable suffering, make the delivery of aid easier and safer, and facilitate the release of hostages, I reiterate my call for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire.”
Israel has so far rejected calls for a ceasefire. The government refers, among other things, to the ongoing rocket attacks against Israel and the hostages held by Hamas. The US government supports Israel in this stance and has repeatedly stated that a ceasefire would ultimately only help Hamas. However, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken showed openness to “humanitarian breaks” in the UN Security Council on Tuesday.
Palestinian Foreign Minister: “Massacre”
Palestinian Foreign Minister Rijad al-Maliki accused Israel of “massacres” in the Gaza Strip. “The ongoing massacres that are being carried out deliberately and systematically and brutally by Israel (…) must be stopped,” the diplomat said at the Security Council meeting. “It is our collective humane duty to stop them.” Another “failure” by the UN Security Council on the issue is “inexcusable.”
According to government figures, Hamas, which rules in the Gaza Strip, killed around 1,400 people and took more than 220 hostage in its major attack on Israel. Since then, more than 5,800 people have died in Israeli counterattacks on the Gaza Strip, according to unverifiable Hamas figures.
In the UN Security Council, in which the five permanent members China, France, Great Britain, Russia and the USA have the right to veto, two attempts at a resolution on the Middle East war have already failed. The UN General Assembly will consider the issue on Thursday.
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