'This escalation by the Israeli government is going in total contradiction to the will of the international community,' says Riyad Mansour
Palestine's UN envoy Riyad Mansour on Friday called on the international community to act immediately to stop Israel's plan to reoccupy Gaza City.
"It is the duty of the international community to act," Mansour told reporters at the UN headquarters in New York following a meeting with the UN Security Council (UNSC) president from Panama, Ambassador Eloy Alfaro de Alba.
He said that he brought to the president's "immediate attention the declaration from the Israeli government to have a massive military operation in which they're intending to have a total control in a military form by the Israeli forces, and they want to start by a massive operation against the city of Gaza, which about 1 million people populate."
Mansour stressed that "this escalation by the Israeli government is going in total contradiction to the will of the international community, international law and common sense."
Saying that a letter from President Mahmoud Abbas would be delivered to the Security Council president, Mansour added that the letter would be urging the permanent body to "shoulder its responsibilities and to act immediately."
"Our objective is to stop Israel from taking this extremely dangerous escalation, and I hope that we collectively would succeed in avoiding such a crazy, irresponsible, dangerous, vicious plan that the Israeli political leadership, led by Prime Minister (Benjamin) Netanyahu, is contemplating to do at any moment," he said.
"What we need is peace. What we need is to stop the fighting. What we need is to feed the hungry people, not to kill them, the Palestinians in Gaza," Mansour added.
Israel's Security Cabinet announced Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s plan to fully occupy Gaza City, the premier's office announced early Friday.
Israel has already been facing mounting outrage over its war on Gaza, where it has killed more than 61,000 people since October 2023. The military campaign has devastated the enclave and led to deaths by hunger and starvation.
