Statement by Ambassador Amar Bendjama during the UNSC meeting on Food Security in the Gaza Strip
Madam President,
I want to thank Guyana for its strong leadership during their Presidency and for convening this meeting.
My gratitude goes also to the representatives of OCHA, FAO, and WFP for their informative briefings.
The situation in Gaza is deeply distressing, and the treatment of the Palestinian people by the occupying power is plainly inhumane.
As President Abdelmadjid Tebboune wisely said, "You lose your dignity when you lose your food security."
By December, estimates from the Integrated Phase Classification (ICP) indicated that, by the end of February, all 2.2 million people in Gaza would face alarming levels of acute food insecurity, the highest ever globally.
Regrettably, the efforts of the humanitarian community and the rare decisions of the Security Council have not improved the situation because there was no ceasefire.
Nutrition screenings in the north of Gaza revealed that more than 15 % of children under 2 years are acutely malnourished.
It is likely that, with January and February data, the situation will worsen, especially in the North which is, at this time, inaccessible.
Currently, 90% of children under 5 are dealing with one or more diseases while enduring extremely poor diets.
Moreover, Children, pregnant women, lactating mothers, and the elderly are at significantly heightened risk of mortality due to insufficient nutrition.
Out of a total of 97 bakeries, only 17 are operational, and not in full capacity.
None of them are functioning north of Wadi Gaza.
Soon, very soon, no bakery will be operating in the entire Gaza Strip.
A journalist from Gaza, Anes Acharif, stated, "I woke up to children screaming because of the hunger that consumed their bodies. We may tolerate hunger, but children cannot. Their screams tore our hearts."
Regrettably, people in Gaza are succumbing to hunger, and this is not just words but a harsh reality.
The people in Gaza are facing a harrowing dilemma they are forced to decide between the immediate threat of perishing in bombing or enduring the agonizing demise due to starvation.
Madam President,
Faced with this appalling tragedy, the humanitarian community finds itself helpless and hopeless, and they are dealing with misinformation campaigns.
The current aid flow falls short, far short, of meeting the required level, and commercial activities remain completely at standstill.
WFP has suspended deliveries to the North of Gaza due to safety concerns for both distributors and recipients.
Mothers struggle to find anything to satisfy their children's hunger, resorting to using animal fodder as a last resort.
Today, while the entire population of Gaza relying on humanitarian assistance, the Israeli occupying power is using starvation as a means of war.
The deliberate use of starvation as a policy is a blatant violation of international law, with the intent to push the Gaza population to lose hope and dignity and to push them to violence and a breakdown of law and order.
Madam President,
Let's be candid.
Resolutions 2712 and 2720 of this Council are proving ineffective on the ground, or with a very limited impact.
Without a cessation of hostilities, ensuring adequate humanitarian assistance remains an unattainable goal.
The ongoing attack on Gaza in not a war against Hamas, it is a collective punishment for the Palestinian civilian people.
Our silence grants a license to kill and to starve the Palestinian population.
This Council must urgently call, demand for a ceasefire, as our inaction equals a complicity in this crime.
I thank you.