Hectic debate in an emergency session held by the United Nations on Thursday on Gaza, bringing the war raging in the Strip to the international organization’s platform.

In a speech he delivered at the session, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, said that “1.4 million people in the Gaza Strip have been displaced as a result of the continued Israeli bombing.”

He added: “The world must believe that the difference between civilization and barbarism is in the method and reasons for killing, not who is killed,” warning that “justifying what Israel is doing takes us back 80 years.”

He continued that “70% of those killed as a result of the Israeli bombing on the Gaza Strip were children and women,” considering that “there is no justice on this land,”

Surprise attack

For his part, Israel’s representative to the United Nations, Gilad Erdan, said: “It seems that the world will not revolt unless the blood is non-Israeli.”

Erdan reviewed a recording that he said documents what happened during Hamas' surprise attack on Israel on October 7.

He continued: “This is not a war with the Palestinians. Israel is fighting the murderous jihadist terrorist movement Hamas,” adding that “Hamas does not care about the people of Palestine, peace, or dialogue.”

He stressed that “any call for a ceasefire is not a call for peace, but rather an attempt to tie our hands.”

For his part, Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi said: “We oppose the use of starvation as a weapon against the Palestinian people in Gaza.”

Collective punishment

He added in his speech at the session: “We Arabs and Muslims value the lives of all human beings, regardless of their religion, nationality, or race,” stressing that “Israel cannot remain above the law.”

He considered that “the collective punishment practiced by Israel against the residents of Gaza is a war crime,” stressing that “the establishment of the State of Palestine with Jerusalem as its capital on the borders of June 4, 1967 will guarantee peace.”

He continued: “I will demand a moment of silence, but not for the lives of one side or the other, but for the lives of all civilians and all the innocent people who are killed in this hideous war.”

He pointed out that “the Israeli delegate did not mention a single word about the lives destroyed by the war,” noting that “the right to self-defense does not mean a license to kill without accountability, and Israel cannot remain above the law.”

Expanding the war?

In turn, Iranian Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian confirmed that “Tehran does not want to expand the scope of the war between Israel and Hamas.”

Abdullahian announced at the same session that “Hamas is ready to release civilian hostages,” calling on the world to “support the release of 6,000 Palestinian prisoners.”

He called on “the international community to hold the United States accountable for its participation in the ongoing conflict”