We were extremely shocked by the speech given on Tuesday, August 25, 2020, by UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov at the Security Council about the situation in the Palestinian Territories in general and the Gaza Strip in particular. Mladenov’s speech was in line with the Israeli narrative, turning it from being an aggressor and a criminal into a victim. The UN official ignored many facts that he profoundly understands and realises about the situation Gaza.

Commenting on the speech, we would like to highlight these points:

• The Gaza Strip is an occupied territory according to the International Law, and the Israeli occupation is the occupying power that is responsible, as per the International Law, for the lives of the civilians in this area and for securing them the requirements of a decent life.
• The Israeli occupation, which continues to impose a suffocating blockade for more than 14 years, is the major reason for the deteriorating humanitarian situation in Gaza that has become an open-air prison. On the other hand, Hamas is a national movement that took office in 2006 after winning democratic elections with a majority. It’s not the rule of Hamas but the Israeli suffocating measures that led to such dire conditions.
• All forms of resistance adopted by the Palestinian people constitute a legitimate right guaranteed by international law, and they are performed in response to blatant violations of the International Law, including the occupation, siege, and repeated Israeli attacks on the Palestinian people carried out on a daily basis.
• The Palestinians have made enormous efforts to contain the situation and avoid escalation; Mladenov was a major part of these efforts. However, it was the Israeli occupation that disavowed all understandings and its commitments.
• We confirm that the Palestinians love life and strive for a better future, but they will not accept to die silently. We just demand freedom and a decent life.
• We call on the international community to intervene immediately to end the awful tragedies of the Gaza Strip: the brutal occupation, the suffocating siege, the coronavirus pandemic that has hit the enclave hard recently. The conditions in the Gaza Strip are dire and unprecedented and portend a full collapse of all aspects of life, with the threat of losing control of the situation and explosion.

Dr. Basem Naim

Member of International Relations Office

The Islamic Resistance Movement - Hamas