New York, 27 February 2024:Statement by Ambassador Usman Jadoon Deputy Permanent Representative of Pakistan to the UN, At Security Council “Open Briefing” on “Food Security Risks in Gaza” under the Agenda Item: “Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict
Madam President, I thank you – and Algeria, Slovenia and Switzerland – for convening this meeting. We also thank the representatives of OCHA, WFP and FAO for the briefing. Pakistan’s Permanent Representative is currently acting as the interim chair of the OIC group, during the absence of the PR of Mauritania. While I am delivering this statement in our national capacity, our delegation will be coordinating the OIC group for the next few weeks.
The prevalence of food insecurity worldwide has been severely exacerbated in the wake of the COVID pandemic and challenges posed by geo-political contestations, conflicts and climate change. In Gaza, the monumental food security risks have reached a point that is unparalleled in recent history.
Israel’s ongoing 5 month genocidal military campaign in Gaza has killed 30,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and displaced the entire 2.3 million population of Gaza. According to UN experts, a famine is imminent. Half a million people in Gaza already face starvation and all 2.3 million are experiencing acute food shortage. While levelling Gaza’s cities, Israeli forces have also brazenly destroyed agricultural land and Gaza’s fishing fleet.
Madam President, The chilling letter last week from the Commissioner General of UNRWA has noted that “the Agency has reached breaking point, with Israel’s repeated calls to dismantle UNRWA and the freezing of funding by donors at a time of unprecedented humanitarian needs in Gaza.” Obstructing UNRWA’s mandate or defunding its operations will have further disastrous consequences for the traumatised people of Gaza and contribute to the “collective punishment” imposed against them by Israel.
Israel’s indiscriminate killing of civilians; its destruction of civilian objects indispensible for human survival; and the use of starvation as a weapon of war are gross violations of international humanitarian law, including “plausibly” the Genocide Convention.
In open defiance of international law and the collective will of the international community, Israel is now preparing for a ground offensive on Rafah. This will further intensify the suffering of the Gaza Palestinians. It also risks further widening the conflict.
Our immediate efforts, therefore, must focus on:
One, securing a complete and durable ceasefire without any conditions. The Security Council can no longer defer a demand for a ceasefire in the fragile hope of an agreement in the confidential talks. Israel’s planned offensive in Rafah must be stopped.
Two, the provisional measures ordered by the ICJ, inter-alia, to ensure urgently needed basic services and humanitarian assistance to the people in Gaza are binding international obligations and their implementation can and must be enforced. The demonization of UNRWA and the UN must be halted. All donors who have suspended support to UNRWA must reverse their decisions, and all others should expand their assistance. All avenues of aid delivery and supply chains must be opened and utilized.
Three, the Security Council must demand the immediate withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces from Gaza and lifting of the 17 year old “blockade”.
Four, consider deploying an impartial international mechanism for the protection of Palestinian civilians in Gaza and the West Bank and to ensure unimpeded humanitarian assistance and subsequent reconstruction support to them. The options offered by the Secretary-General should be reviewed in this context.
Pakistan will work through the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC), in cooperation with the Arab Group, to scale up the delivery of humanitarian assistance to Gaza and explore additional options for alleviating the imminent famine situation. The Security Council must play its part in ensuring that the right conditions are in place for the unimpeded flow of life-saving supplies including deliveries of food.
Madam President, The tragedy we are witnessing in Gaza is in some measure a consequence of the Security Council’s failure to secure implementation of its own resolutions and uphold the inalienable right to self-determination of the Palestinian people. The Security Council must ensure that the legitimate struggle for self-determination and freedom of the Palestinian people – and indeed of all peoples struggling to liberate themselves from foreign occupation receives the unequivocal support as envisaged in the UN Charter.
Sub Editor: Ghufran