UNSC: Algeria Calls for Permanent and Total Halt to Zionist Aggression Against Gaza

Algeria, represented by its permanent mission member to the United Nations, Toufik Laid Koudri, called on Tuesday from New York for a permanent and total cessation of Zionist aggression against the Gaza Strip, along with the immediate lifting of the blockade imposed on it. This includes opening crossing points for humanitarian aid and halting deportation operations.

“After nearly 19 months of barbaric aggression against a defenseless people and over 70 days of an unrelenting blockade on Gaza, we are confronted with a humanitarian tragedy whose scale is rivaled only by the moral disgrace that will inevitably attach itself to anyone complicit in this situation, or even to those who remain silent in guilty observation,” lamented Koudri during a Security Council meeting dedicated to “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.”

“Only death, bombs, and bullets are permitted to enter Gaza, while infants are deprived of milk, water and medicine are prohibited, and crossing points are closed to life. Innocent children are left to fend for themselves, facing the horrors of hunger and the blockade,” the Algerian diplomat denounced.

“The people of Gaza are stripped of everything except death and fear, watching their homes crumble and their emaciated bodies fade away—an image that reveals the dehumanization of a world seemingly accustomed to observing catastrophe without taking action,” he continued.

In this context, he asserted that “the value system we believed united us not long ago has collapsed today,” adding that “we are at a decisive turning point where Palestinians are treated as living beings devoid of the right to life, hope, or dignity.”

Referring to the blockade imposed by the Zionist occupation on the entry of aid into the Gaza Strip, the speaker emphasized that this constitutes “a crime of systematic famine” against more than two million Palestinians, “a crime in its own right whose perpetrator is known and condemned,” amid denunciations and calls for an immediate ceasefire and accountability.

He noted that in just one week, 14 elderly individuals have died of starvation in Gaza, alongside 57 malnourished children since March 2, specifying that these figures are expected to rise with the collapse of the health system and humanitarian efforts, as humanitarian organizations warn of a looming famine affecting more than 93% of children in Gaza, amounting to 930,000 children.

While the population of Gaza endures a humanitarian catastrophe, “more than 3,000 trucks carrying 116,000 metric tons of food products are waiting for authorization to be sent to Gaza,” a transport hindered by the occupation “in flagrant violation of international law and in direct contravention of the decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ).”

The diplomat clarified that following the restrictions imposed by the occupier on humanitarian organizations, “it has promoted a plan falsely labeled as humanitarian,” adding that this was a “rejected plan,” as stated by the United Nations and various humanitarian organizations, because it does not meet “the urgent and fundamental needs of over two million people.”

Koudri emphasized that it is time for the Security Council, “which has been entrusted with the responsibility of maintaining international peace and security, to hear the voice of Gaza.” He concluded by stating that “it is no longer possible for the world to remain idle while silently witnessing the extermination of a people besieged by abandonment and deprived of their most fundamental rights to life.”

He ultimately called for “a permanent and complete halt to this unjust aggression, the lifting of the siege on the population of Gaza, the opening of crossings for humanitarian aid, and the cessation of all deportation operations.” He emphasized that “the Palestinian people yearn for a homeland and dignity. They seek an unconditional and comprehensive peace—a just and lasting peace. They aspire to an independent state of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.”