Guyana is deeply troubled by the ongoing conflict in Gaza and the dire conditions faced by its civilian population, as well as the current tensions in the wider Middle East and calls on the United Nations Security Council to urgently address these situations.
This was part of a statement delivered yesterday by Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation, Hugh Todd, during the United Nations Security Council (UNSC) session on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question,” a release from the ministry stated.
Todd told the session that the war in Gaza has set several new and unacceptable bars. These included, a rapid decline in the nutritional status of the population in Gaza; the highest number of humanitarian workers killed in a single conflict globally; and more women and children killed than in any other recent conflict in a single year.
Further, Guyana remains deeply troubled by the ongoing situation in north Gaza, where the population has been under siege and subject to a bombing campaign for more than three weeks. As such, the minister called for the compliance of obligations under international law regarding the protection of the inhabitants of the territory.
Noting that the world is in a much better position today to act based on real-time information, than it was thirty years ago, Todd called on the Security Council to unite to de-escalate and stabilize the situation in the wider Middle East, contending that to do otherwise, would be to abrogate the primary responsibility for the maintenance of international peace and security.
Also of “grave concern” were the bills passed recently in the Israeli Parliament regarding UNRWA’s [United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East] operations in the occupied Palestinian territory. Minister Todd pointed out that should UNRWA be dismantled, the implications would be “devastating” for the millions of Palestinians who depend on its lifesaving services in the absence of an independent Palestinian state and urged careful consideration by all concerned of the implications of unilateral action in this sensitive case.
The Minister stressed the urgency of achieving a ceasefire and called on the Security Council to immediately rise to the occasion to address the unprecedented humanitarian situation in Gaza, the release added.
