The UN Security Council convened on Friday for an urgent discussion on the war in Gaza, the state of healthcare and hospitals in the region. The discussion opened with a minute of silence observed in memory of victims on both sides, followed by a speech from the World Health Organization’s (WHO) Director-General Dr. Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, who said that " a child is killed every 10 minutes in Gaza." Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan said that "the UN has completely lost its moral compass."
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According to Ghebreyesus, " Some 1.5 million people now are displaced and looking for shelter anywhere, but “nowhere and no one is safe.” He also addressed the issue of the Israeli captives held in Gaza, saying "We continue to call on Hamas to release hostages too, many of whom need urgent medical attention."
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Minute of silence observed in the UN Security Council
(Photo: TIMOTHY A. CLARY / AFP)
He also noted there have been 250 attacks on health and medical personnel and facilities in Gaza and the West Bank, and such attacks 25 in Israel’s territory, including against ambulances and hospitals. Finally, he warned Gaza’s healthcare system is “on its knees.”
Director General of the Palestine Red Crescent Society, Marwan Jilani, who spoke after Ghebreyesus, said that in the past 24 hours, Israeli forces targeted attacked four hospitals in the Strip, including al-Shifa Hospital.
"Hospitals are being targeted in a desperate attempt to force the civilian population out of Gaza. Our ambulances were bombarded and emergency paramedics escaped certain death. In Al-Quds Hospital, one person has been killed."
He added, "The main generator shut down because of a lack of fuel. There is a very serious risk that we will lose children in incubators." Jilani called for increased humanitarian aid to Gaza and urged to uphold international humanitarian law in combat and take action against attacks on health facilities and workers: "Listen to the cries of children soaked in blood."
Israel’s Ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, who wore a yellow star during his speech, addressed the council with Hassan Yousef, the son of one of Hamas' leaders who has become a prominent advocate against the terror organization in recent years. Erdan criticized the speakers before him and what he called the falsehoods they’re spreading, saying, "The UN has completely lost its moral compass. Stop believing Hamas falsehoods," he called upon member states.
“Is it not concerning to you that in Dr. Tedro’s briefing not once did he mention Hamas exploitation of hospitals and ambulances for terror? Should this not raise a red flag? We’re also being briefed by the Palestinian Director-General of the Red Crescent, yet, there’s no Israeli representative of Magen David Adom, the Israeli Red Cross, briefing the council, is this not mind-boggling? Does this not reek of bias?”
“Why don’t you tell the council about the ambulances that Hamas abuses for transporting terrorists and weapons? Or is this an inconvenient truth that you choose to stay silent about? Israel is doing far more for the well-being of Gazans than the WHO or any other UN body. If any UN official truly cared for Gazans, they would be working hand in hand with us to advance a solution, not condemn Israel,” he added.
Meanwhile, a third of all U.S. Senate members have signed a joint letter to US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas-Greenfield, calling for her action in the Security Council to define Hamas as a terror organization and impose sanctions on it.
The letter, led by Republican Senator James Lankford and Democrat Jackie Rosen, comes against the backdrop of American criticism of the UN, which has not formally condemned Hamas and its attack on Israel on October 7.