During a press briefing on Tuesday, Palestinian Ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour was asked about the killing of five Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza in a targeted strike by Israel.
00:05Beside the condemnation and the statements and the Security Council's sessions,
00:12Israel seems, and I'm sure you have noticed, does not pay any attention to the world's international law or humanitarian law or the Security Council.
00:25Beyond that, what can the Muslim and Arab countries do to force the Israeli government to implement the minimum of human rights?
00:37We also yesterday, the extrajudicial killing of journalists like ourselves, just to silence the voices in Gaza before they invade it.
00:48What can we do besides reading statements and communications? Please. Anyone?
00:56Thank you. We fully concur with your views expressed particularly for the killing of the journalists.
01:03This is a deliberate policy to silence the journalists, but we were all aware that the truth cannot be silenced.
01:13As a matter of fact, I have the honour also to announce that my minister called on the OIC delegation in New York to commence an extraordinary OIC group meeting,
01:33to discuss the possible course forward to take actions in this regard. In the meantime, we are delighted to observe last Sunday that majority of the Security Council members concur with putting an end to the Israeli policies.
02:02If I may add also, the conference that took place at the end of last month in New York was predicated in its concept paper that this is an action-oriented conference.
02:23Which means that in addition to reiterating as you have indicated, the principal position which we appreciate in terms of a just solution to the conflict, which requires the end of this illegal occupation and allowing the Palestinian people, among other things, to exercise self-determination.
02:48It requires practical steps by the institutions of the UN, including the Security Council, and it has to shoulder its responsibility.
03:00And we appreciate the relatively cohesion and unity by almost everyone in the Security Council demanding Israel to stop this, you know, crime against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip.
03:18But that is also in itself is not enough. Therefore, we are asking these institutions to take further steps to force Israel to comply with its obligation.
03:33And the Security Council has tools available if they wish to act accordingly. But states in their national capacity can take also steps.
03:48I will give a few examples of steps that have been taking place, not only from Europe, although Europe is important, because it has an extensive relationship with Israel, such as the European Union is seriously considering maybe suspending, if not the agreement on trade with Israel, but certain parts of it.
04:14And it has other tools available to it. So they are seriously considering that.
04:19A number of countries, including Spain and others, decided, you know, to suspend military, you know, export, import with Israel. That is also very important.
04:33Germany took a step, maybe it's a modest, but it's a very important, you know, step by indicating that they will not send weapons to Israel to be used to kill the Palestinian children.
04:50Now, in the countries of the south, my sister from Turkey forgot to say that early in this aggression, they took measures to suspend many of their trade relationship, you know, with Israel and arms sales.
05:09Colombia, for example, severed the diplomatic relationship with Israel and decided not to send any of its coal to Israel because they export coal and they have other relationship about, you know, sending CO2 to Israel.
05:30Israel, they suspended all these things. These are examples in which a growing number of countries are considering taking, you know, measures in their national capacity.
05:43And I think that momentum is getting bigger and bigger and we need to succeed collectively from all these parts, including the different components of the United Nations until we force Israel to comply with its obligation under the charter of the UN.
06:05And also the legal systems of the United Nations, whether the ICJ, the ICC, although these institutions, they move slowly, but nevertheless, they are also acting.
06:21But I think what is really significant that Europe is now acting in a practical way and thinking in a practical way in a fast way that should be complemented by all other countries in order to bring Israel into compliance.
06:41So we are now in the midst of this stage. We hope that we can succeed in not allowing them to execute the plan that they declared.
06:55But this requires more efforts, more pressure, more mobilization. And this is a step, maybe a modest step in this direction.
07:05We have to stay the course and it is your duty because you referred to, you know, Palestinian journalists that were assassinated by Israel in Gaza yesterday, which we condemn that in the strongest terms.
07:20And we hope that the international legal system would go after those who have committed these crimes so that they face, you know, the punishment that they deserve.
07:32But we need to intensify all of our efforts. We urge you to keep pressuring everyone. You need to send large delegations of journalists to go to the Gaza Strip to see with your own eyes the reality of our people and the crimes committed by Israel and to report back on it.
07:51We ask the Security Council to go and visit and to see with their own eyes the reality there. They are the independent parties. We do not trust the reporting of the Israeli occupying authorities about the reality in the Gaza Strip and the lie that there is no starvation.
08:10There is no starvation. Everyone saying is starvation. We lost more than 200 people. About half of them are children because of starvation and more might lose their lives because of lack of food, medicine and water.
08:26We have to intensify the pressure until the Israeli occupying authorities to stop these criminal policies and actions and to reverse the story.
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