After a similar appearance by his Israeli counterpart, the Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations has spoken to reporters at the UN.
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| Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations (UN) speaks at the UN Headquarters. Photo: Getty Images via BBC |
Riyad Mansour expressed his concern that messages about “Israel’s right to defend itself” could be interpreted by the Israeli government as “a licence to kill.” He has requested an emergency meeting of the League of Arab States (LAS) in Cairo in the next few days.
Mansour then spoke about the root causes of the conflict, which he said needed to be addressed to advance peace.
He said Israel’s blockade on Gaza did not destroy Hamas’s military capabilities, and only inflicted terrible suffering on an entire civilian population.
Palestinians, he said, were not “sub-humans” and would never accept a rhetoric that “denigrates their humanity, reneges their rights… ignores the occupation of their land and oppression of their people.” bbc.com
