Egypt’s ambassador to the United Nations lashed out at Israel during a speech to the UN Security Council, hours after Jerusalem praised Cairo for brokering a ceasefire with Palestinian Islamic Jihad that put end to a three-day conflict between Israel and the terrorist group in Gaza. pull
While Egypt and other Arab countries with ties to the Jewish state still traditionally hold critical lines toward Israel at the UN, the rhetoric employed by Ambassador Osama Abdel Khalek went well beyond what officials generally use publicly Egyptians, especially in recent years as Israel. – Ties with Egypt have warmed even more.
The tongue-lashing also came after Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Gilad Erdan, thanked Egypt and its president, Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, “who were essential in restoring calm and stability in our region”. A similar message was conveyed to the Egyptian leader by Prime Minister Yair Lapid when the two spoke by phone at the same time as the Security Council session took place on Monday.
Abdel Khalek began his speech before an emergency session of the Security Council on the weekend of violence between Israel and Palestinian Islamic Jihad by lamenting the “43 martyrs” killed, making no distinction between PIJ fighters and innocent civilians . It also used an incorrect figure for the death count, which stood at 46 as of Monday afternoon, according to the UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Tor Wenessland, who spoke before the ‘Egyptian ambassador.
The IDF estimated that 11 of these casualties were innocent civilians caught in the line of fire during its airstrikes against PIJ fighters. According to the Israeli military, 16 Palestinians were killed by failed IDF rocket launches that landed in Gaza.
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Abdel Khalek made no mention of the PIJ during his speech.
He ripped Israel for allowing “settlers under the protection of the Israeli police to enter the courtyards of the Haram al-Sharif. [Temple Mount].” Indeed, Israel allowed a record number of more than 2,000 Jews to visit the Temple Mount on Sunday for the fast day of Tisha B’Av, but considers this conduct to be in line with its commitment to preserve the status quo at the holy site in Jerusalem which Muslims can visit and pray while non-Muslims can only visit. Police also enforced the policy and arrested several Jewish visitors who violated these terms.
Jews visit the Temple Mount, August 7, 2022. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean)
But several of Israel’s Arab neighbors saw things differently, with the United Arab Emirates representative to the UN also condemning the “incursion of some extremists into the courtyards of the Al-Aqsa Mosque” during his subsequent speech to the Security Council.
Despite Egypt’s efforts to mediate between Israel and the warring parties in Gaza, along with its commitment to help rehabilitate the Gaza Strip, Abdel Khalek insisted that Israel was “fully responsible” for the coastal enclave. busy”. Israel unilaterally withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and maintains that Hamas is now responsible for the territory.
Since Hamas took over Gaza in a violent coup in 2007, Israel has maintained a blockade on the territory, which it says is necessary to prevent the smuggling of weapons and dual-use materials that could be used by Hamas and other terrorist groups in future wars. . Egypt has also maintained a blockade on the territory, but this was not mentioned by Abdel Khalek, who focused on asking Israel to end its blockade of the Strip.
He also criticized Israel for the mass arrests of Palestinians, the expansion of settlements, the demolition of houses and the use of live fire against Palestinian protesters.
“Egypt will never abandon its historic responsibilities to the brotherly Palestinian people and our efforts. [to build] a better future that we all hope for when peace, security and stability prevail in the Middle East,” Abdel Khalek added.
The Israeli Mission to the UN refused to respond to the Egyptian ambassador’s claims
Foreign Minister Yair Lapid sits with the Egyptian Foreign Ministry’s chief of protocol in Cairo ahead of his meetings with Egypt’s President Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi and Minister of Foreign Affairs Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry, December 9, 2021 (Shlomi Amsalem/GPO)
Monday’s emergency session was held at the request of China, France, Ireland, Norway and the United Arab Emirates. It was originally scheduled to take place behind closed doors when it was announced in the middle of the fight on Saturday. After pressure from the Palestinian Mission to the UN, China—which currently chairs the organization—decided to open Monday’s session to the public.
Focusing more on the latest round of violence in Gaza, US Ambassador to the UN Linda Thomas Greenfield appeared to deliver the most pro-Israel speech of any member of the council.
He expressed sadness for the civilian lives lost in the conflict and called for an investigation into each one. But he clarified that the parties “must refrain from jumping to conclusions until we can determine the facts. As just one example, Israel was initially blamed for an attack that caused civilian casualties in the Jabaliya refugee camp . Now it looks like it was caused by a Palestinian Islamic Jihad rocket. So let’s make sure we follow the facts and see where they take us.”
Thomas-Greenfield supported Israel’s right to respond to PIJ threats and rocket fire, while promoting a favorite argument of the Biden administration that “Israelis and Palestinians equally deserve to live in security.”
He emphasized that the PIJ was a US-designated terrorist group, as well as an Iranian proxy that has long targeted civilians. “It is telling that the Palestinian leaders of Islamic Jihad were in Tehran in recent days while the people they claim to be protecting were left in harm’s way,” the US envoy said.
Thomas-Greenfield also revealed that PIJ maintained the ceasefire agreement by “cruelly prolonging these hostilities”, while Lapid’s “leadership…ultimately prevented further casualties and suffering”.
The US ambassador closed by calling for the release of the two Israeli civilians and the two fallen IDF soldiers whose remains have been held by Hamas in Gaza for approximately eight years.
In this photo taken from UNTV video, US Ambassador to the United Nations Linda Thomas-Greenfield addresses an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on Ukraine to deplore the actions from Russia to the country and ask for diplomacy, at the UN headquarters, on February 23, 2022. . (UNTV via AP)
Like Thomas-Greenfield, Wenessland also condemned PIJ’s “inflammatory rhetoric” and “indiscriminate” rockets in his UN speech. However, it appeared to play down the IDF’s response, which contributed to the civilian death toll.
“While I fully recognize Israel’s legitimate security concerns, I reiterate that, under international law, any use of force must be proportionate and take all possible measures to avoid civilian casualties. Children, in particular, are not they should never be the target of violence or put in harm’s way,” Wennesland said.
In a statement on Friday, the UN envoy expressed deep concern over Israel’s killing of senior PIJ commander Tayseer Jabari in what kicked off the 66-hour round of violence.
That drew immediate condemnation from Erdan, who again raised his frustration at Monday’s Security Council session.
The Israeli envoy sought to compare the IDF killing of Jabari to the US killing of Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri last month.
“When al-Zawahiri was removed, this institution, as well as most of the world, gave its full support…However, when Israel neutralizes these terrorists to prevent an imminent attack on our civilians, officials of the UN suddenly issued a “deep concern”. ‘ It is difficult to explain such double standards,’ said Erdan.
At a media briefing before the Security Council session, Erdan said the IDF aborted an airstrike to kill senior PIJ commander Khaled Mansour three times at the last moment after realizing there were children in the area
In this photo, Israel’s ambassador to the UN Gilad Erdan delivers a press conference at the United Nations headquarters in New York on April 25, 2022. (Courtesy)
“Israel carried out this operation with amazing precision and extreme precision, taking precautions almost never seen in conflict zones around the world,” he said.
The claim was roundly rejected by the Palestinian ambassador to the UN, Riyad Mansour. “Israel claims for itself a right to security that would apparently justify murdering, imprisoning and oppressing an entire nation,” it began.
“How many more times will Israel justify bombing our people in Gaza until someone says enough is enough
is that enough?” pleaded Mansour.
He called Israel’s decision to launch Operation Breaking Dawn “unprovoked and unwarranted aggression” and claimed the real motive behind it was “the upcoming Israeli elections and the desperation to appeal and appease the extremists”.
Palestinian UN Ambassador Riyad Mansour addresses the Security Council on August 8, 2022. (Screenshot/UN TV)
Israel maintains it struck first to prevent the actualization of concrete threats that PIJ fighters were posing to Israeli civilians near the Gaza border during a four-day period after the IDF arrested the group’s leader in the West Bank , Bassem Al-Saadi, in Jenin last week. .
Mansour urged members of the Security Council to intervene to protect the Palestinians. “The ones who really need your support for their safety are these defenseless Palestinian families, not nuclear power,” he said.
The Palestinian ambassador insisted that despite Ramallah’s frustrations with Israel, its hand is still extended in peace. He regretted that the same could not be said for Israel, but argued that the Security Council should still “drag both sides into the peace process today.”
