Kuwait criticises international community’s 'silence'

The State of Kuwait said that the international community’s “silence” on Israel’s offensive on Gaza encouraged it to continue its “barbaric” aggression on the Palestinian people and called on the Security Council to put a stop to the Israeli government’s “arrogance which has exceeded all norms.”

“The time has come to for the international community to take a strict stance in the face of the illegal policies and actions of the Israeli government, and for it to send a clear message – no more killing and no more destruction,” (KUNA) quoted Kuwait’s Permanent Representative to the UN Mansour Al-Otaibi as saying.
He made the comments in a speech at a General Assembly session, held at his request to discuss the matter.
The Kuwaiti envoy, in his capacity as rotating head of the Arab Group of states at the UN for July, said that the Security Council should carry its responsibilities, taking whatever actions are needed in order to offer international protection for the Palestinian people, and to make sure that attacks like these are not repeated.
The Security Council must act to continue working towards achieving permanent comprehensive and just peace on the Palestinian issue according to legitimate international resolutions, the principle of land for peace, the roadmap and the Arab Peace Initiative, he said.
This would lead to an end to occupation, the granting of the complete legitimate political rights of the Palestinian people – most importantly their right to self-determination – and the establishment of an independent state with a capital of East Jerusalem, he added.
“Without putting an end to occupation – which is the root cause of the crisis – the circle of violence will not stop and the Middle East will not benefit from the security, safety and stability it has been missing for decades,” he said.
Kuwaiti envoy Al-Otaibi criticised the international community, which he said “watched over in apparent silence” the obscene massacres committed by Israel on civilians, and its criminal destruction of these people’s possessions and civil institutions, namely schools, mosques, hospitals, and economic and social structures.
This silence has “assisted in providing a cover for the continuation of this aggression, the increasing of casualties including children, women and the elderly – which figures suggest have exceeded 11,000 (80% of them civilian) – and the large-scale destruction of homes and infrastructure of a people that have been besieged for more than seven years now,” he further emphasised.
“It is unfortunate and painful to describe the situation as a war, and to sympathize with the Israeli government’s misleading narration of events – that it is protecting itself in order to ensure the security of its people.
“However, facts and figures released by international agencies and organisations reveal that this is a blatant assault on defenseless peoples,” he underlined.
Israel’s excessive use of force, which does not measure whatsoever to the resistance it faced, and its deliberate targeting of residential areas is a “flagrant violation” of the 1949 Fourth Geneva Convention (relative to the protection of civilians in times of war) and to all other related international agreements, charters and norms, he said.
Al-Otaibi reiterated his call on the international community – represented by the Security Council – to save the Palestinian people from Israeli actions, which he said have exceeded all norms as UN reports clearly demonstrate that 30% of Palestinians killed in the conflict are children, and that a quarter of Gaza’s 1.8 million population have been displaced.
The close to seven-decade old UN is “faced with a true legal, moral and human challenge,” he said, of addressing “war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity,” and should hold Israeli officials responsible for these acts accountable.