Algeria Urges Global Collaboration for Middle East Peace Process

Ambassador Amar Bendjama, Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations, urged the international community on Tuesday to “work together” to launch a “genuine peace process that ends the occupation of Arab lands,” which he described as essential for achieving “just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

“The suffering of the Palestinian people is not merely a humanitarian crisis; it is a political crisis rooted in decades of occupation and oppression dating back to the Nakba,” he stated during a Security Council meeting addressing the situation in the Middle East, including Palestine. He emphasized that “the real issue in the Middle East is the occupation.”

According to Ambassador Bendjama, “only by addressing this fundamental cause can we hope for just and lasting peace in the Middle East.”

He called on the members of the Security Council to “work together to impose an immediate and unconditional ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon, and to initiate a genuine peace process that ends the occupation of Arab lands.”

Condemning the “escalating violence” faced by Palestine for over a year, Algeria’s UN representative asserted that the failure of the international community to uphold the inalienable rights of the Palestinians has “exacerbated this tragedy.”

He warned that the “brutal Zionist aggression” is intensifying daily, spreading to Lebanon, Syria, and beyond, thus posing a significant threat to regional stability as well as to international peace and security. He lamented the collapse “before our eyes” of the framework established after World War II, which has proven incapable of resisting a Zionist occupier “shielded from accountability and enjoying total impunity.”

“We live in a world today where might prevails over right,” he remarked.

Describing the situation in northern Gaza as “catastrophic,” the diplomat noted that the destruction of the Palestinian enclave “is not driven by military objectives but rather by a policy aimed at forcibly displacing Palestinians from their homes.”

He asserted that the healthcare system in northern Gaza “is on the brink of collapse,” emphasizing that conditions in southern Gaza are “no better.”

He argued that “the situation is deteriorating rapidly as the occupier uses famine against civilians, particularly children, depriving them of essential food supplies.”

He cited the “over 200,000 trucks of humanitarian aid prevented from entering Gaza over the past year” as evidence.

“This is the true face of the Zionist occupier who treats Palestinians ‘as less than human,'” he added.

In this context, Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations “strongly condemned” the decision of the Zionist entity to block the activities of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), reminding everyone that this UN agency “operates under a mandate from the UN General Assembly, which justifies our collective defense and support.”

The ambassador stressed the importance of this agency for thousands of Palestinians, denouncing the “relentless attacks” by Zionist forces against UNRWA personnel, which have already led to 231 deaths, in addition to 190 bombed facilities.

“UNRWA is irreplaceable; it is indispensable. It must continue to serve as a lifeline for Palestinian refugees until a just political solution is found that establishes an independent Palestinian state,” he reiterated.

Furthermore, the diplomat denounced the violations of freedom of expression in the occupied Palestinian territories, expressing concern over the international community’s silence regarding these “blatant transgressions” by the Zionist occupier. Bendjama questioned, “Where are the voices of those who once claimed to be defenders of freedom of expression?” He emphasized that even though the Zionist occupier “attempts to conceal the truth,” it “cannot be erased.”

“After outright denying its crimes, it has even had the audacity to threaten the multilateral bodies responsible for addressing its blatant violations, some of which, regrettably, have succumbed to such pressures,” he lamented.

Reflecting on the ban preventing foreign journalists from entering Gaza for over a year, Algeria’s permanent representative to the United Nations noted that “the few remaining Palestinian journalists in northern Gaza find themselves targeted by the Zionist occupier.” He also pointed out that 168 journalists in Gaza and dozens more in Lebanon have lost their lives.

Citing the UN Special Rapporteur on freedom of opinion and expression, Mr. Bendjama stated that targeting journalists is a tactic used by the Zionist entity “to prevent the documentation of crimes.”