Speeches given at the United Nations regarding the 2014 Gaza War: Difference between revisions

From July 8 to August 26, 2014, another conflict between Israel and Gaza escalated and led to the outbreak of a war between Israel and Gaza. Between 2,127^[1] and 2,168^[2] Gazans were killed, including 578^[3] children. The Gaza Health Ministry reported more than 70% of the victims were civilians whilst Israel reported that 55% of the dead were civilians.^[4] On the Israeli side 66 soldiers and 5 Israeli civilians, including one child, were killed.^[5] These violent outbreaks led to various speeches regarding the Gaza Conflict in front of the United Nations, given by the Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas and members of the Human Right Watch and Representatives of the Secretary-General for Children and Armed Conflict.

Netanyahu’s speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly

On September 29, 2014, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a speech to the United Nations focusing on the Iranian threat and the most recent Israel–Gaza conflict.^[6] In the speech Netanyahu claimed that he had come to the United Nations “to expose the brazen lies spoken from this very podium” against Israel and the soldiers of Israel.

This statement is referring to the 21st Special Session of the UN Human Rights Council on the Human Rights Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem on July 23, 2014. During this Session the Human Rights Council accused Israel of violating the laws of war and called for an investigation and report on violations by both sides, in order to identify the responsible ones.^[7]

Prime Minister Netanyahu stressed that by investigating Israel rather than Hamas for war crimes, the Human Rights Council had betrayed “its noble mission to protect the innocent”. Furthermore, he accused the Human Rights Council of sending a clear message to all terrorists: “Use civilians as human shields. […] Because sadly, it works.” He stated that the Human Rights Council has turned into a Terrorist Rights Council by accepting and giving legitimacy to the use of human shields.
Netanyahu reported in his speech that Israel had justly defended itself against terror tunnels and rocket attacks and had no intention in targeting innocent civilians. He mentioned that Israel ” was doing everything to minimize Palestinian civilian casualties” by sending text messages, dropping flyers, making phone calls and announcing warnings on television. “No other country and no other army in history have gone to greater lengths to avoid casualties among the civilian population of their enemies.”^{[citation needed]}

The Prime Minister believes that not Israel but the Hamas has broken the International Law by hiding missile batteries in residential areas, using Palestinian as human shields and telling Palestinians to ignore the warnings of Israel to leave. Furthermore, he blamed the Hamas for deliberately placing rockets next to Palestinian children in order to create images of horror for the press. “Israel was using its missiles to protect its children. Hamas was using its children to protect its missiles.”^{[citation needed]}

Abbas’s speech in front of the United Nations General Assembly

Three days before Netanyahu’s speech the President of the Palestinian National Authority Mahmoud Abbas gave a speech to the United Nations General Assembly as well.^[8] He stated that “Israel has chosen to make it a year of a new war of genocide perpetrated against the Palestinian people.” He called for the support and recognition of the free and independent State of Palestine and for an end to the Israeli blockade and he blamed Israel for creating the “largest prison in the world for nearly two million Palestinian citizens”. Abbas emphasized that Palestine, other than Israel, will maintain its commitment to international law, international humanitarian law and the international consensus. He criticized that Israel had been acting as a state above the law with “impunity and absolving it of any accountability or punishment for its policies, aggression and defiance of the international will and legitimacy”, therefore creating a ground for the rise of extremism, hate and terrorism in Palestine. He stated that the people of Palestine are the ones who need immediate international protection and are in need of security and peace.

Human Rights Council on the Human Rights Situation in Gaza

The Human Rights Council named on July 23 the following examples to prove the violations of international law and the international humanitarian law.^[9]
Navi Pillay a high commissioner for human rights criticized at an emergency debate at the UNHRC in Geneva that Israel had not done enough to protect civilians.^[10] Furthermore, she accused Israel of committing war crimes. She highlights, that the killing of civilians in Gaza, included dozens of children and had led to concerns over Israel’s foreign policy and its respect for proportionality.^[11] The 47-member Geneva state forum accepted the Palestinian resolution by a vote of one state against the investigations (United States) and 29 states in favour of the investigation. 17 states were abstentions (including Germany and other European Union members). The presented resolution called for “an independent, international commission of inquiry” to investigate “all violations of international human rights law and international humanitarian law in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, particularly in the occupied Gaza Strip”.

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