Calling for a ceasefire in Gaza, Presidents Cyril Ramaphosa, Emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, and Gustavo Petro also criticized the passivity of global powers.
President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa has praised international backing for the genocide lawsuit his nation launched in December at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) against Israel.
“We are pleased with the backing that numerous nations have shown for the matter we brought before the ICJ. “The rulings of the International Court of Justice demonstrate that there is a credible case of genocide against the Gazan people,” the president of South Africa stated at the UN General Assembly on Tuesday.
Speaking to the UN General Assembly in New York, Ramaphosa referenced South Africa’s decades-long struggle against apartheid, which was ultimately successful in the 1990s, when he remarked, “We will not sit silent and watch as apartheid is perpetrated against others.”
“The only lasting solution is the establishment of the Palestinian state, a state that will exist side by side with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital,” he stated.
In his speech, Ramaphosa criticized the UN Security Council’s current structure for being antiquated and exclusionary and advocated for extensive revisions.
“It can no longer be an exclusive group of five countries,” he declared, advocating for the involvement of Africa and other areas in the council’s deliberations.
Qatar
At the UN General Assembly, Emir of Qatar Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called Israel’s attack in Gaza a “genocide” in his speech to world leaders.
“The blatant aggression that befalls the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip today is the most barbaric, heinous and extensive aggression,” he said, describing the dispute as “a crime of genocide.”
Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani, the Emir of Qatar, emphasized that his country would not give up on mediating the Gaza conflict.
“Gaza mediation ‘is our strategic choice, we will continue efforts despite doubts, and accusations until a permanent ceasefire is achieved,” Al Thani stated.
According to Al Thani, the current Israeli leadership has no ally for peace.
Additionally, he stated that the right to self-determination and the cessation of the occupation in Palestinian territory are neither gifts nor favors.
The UNSC’s failure to carry out the ceasefire resolution in Gaza was also criticized by the emir of Qatar.
“Palestinian membership at the UN won’t either end its miseries or end occupation but at least it would send a message to the far-right government in Israel involved in challenging the International legitimacy that force doesn’t eliminate rights,” he stated.
Holding Israel accountable for the murder of Ismail Haniyeh, he stated
“Qatar is mediating in a situation where one party does not hesitate to assassinate its counterparts with whom it is involved in negotiations such as the assassination of Ismail Haniyeh, who was not only the political leader of Hamas but also the first elected Palestinian prime minister.”
The speaker expressed his support for ending Israel’s military operations in Lebanon, saying, “Israel is waging a war on Lebanon and no one knows how much this war will escalate.”
Colombia
During his address to the UN General Assembly, Colombian President Gustavo Petro sharply chastised Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for his attacks on Gaza.
“It is in this inequality that we find the logic of the mass destruction unleashed by the climate crisis and the logic of the bombs dropped by a criminal like Netanyahu on Gaza,” stated Petro.
The president declared, “All of humanity will die when Gaza dies.”
We now have twenty thousand dead kids. The UN General Assembly situation is ridiculed by presidents.
According to the president of state of Colombia, on the international scene, only the voices of superpowers are heard.
“A nation’s ability to dominate the world is now demonstrated by its destruction of people, not by its political or economic might. We who possess the ability to maintain life speak without receiving any attention. For this reason, when we vote to halt the genocide in Gaza, they do not pay attention to us. He remarked, “The presidents who have the power to destroy humanity do not listen to us.”
