New York - Saba:
China's Permanent Representative to the United Nations Fu Cong has called on the Zionist enemy to lift restrictions on humanitarian access to Gaza and stop using it as a ‘bargaining chip’, as the already dire humanitarian situation there is rapidly deteriorating.
Addressing the UN Security Council last night on the issue of food security in Gaza, Kong was quoted by Xinhua as saying that humanitarian issues cannot be politicised and hunger cannot be used as a weapon, stressing that this is the basic minimum of international humanitarian law
international law.
Kong continued: ‘During the 13-month conflict in Gaza, civilians were repeatedly deprived of their basic needs, and all basic humanitarian limits were repeatedly violated.’
“The biggest challenge in expanding humanitarian assistance is not the lack of supplies but the restrictions imposed by the occupation on access,” he said, calling on the Israeli occupation to immediately open all crossings and remove obstacles that prevent humanitarian assistance from reaching all parts of Gaza effectively.
‘Israel is restricting humanitarian access on the one hand and accusing the UN and humanitarian agencies of inaction on the other, which is unacceptable,’ he added, calling on Israel to fully cooperate with the UN and other humanitarian agencies.
Kong explained that the recent completion of the WHO-supported polio vaccination campaign in Gaza proved once again that it is possible to expand humanitarian assistance, noting that the key to this issue is that Israel, as an occupying power, must fulfil its obligations under international law and should not be allowed to use humanitarian aid
and should not be allowed to use humanitarian aid as a bargaining chip.
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