Egypt's Representative to UN: Israel killed more than 45,000 Palestinians in Gaza

Osama Abdel Khaleq, Egypt's Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York said that Israel targeted civilians in the Gaza Strip, killing more than 45,000 Palestinians, 70% of whom were women and children, and destroyed the civilian infrastructure of the Gaza Strip and killed hundreds of UN employees and humanitarian workers.

In his speech, Friday, before the UN Security Council in the emergency session to discuss the Israeli attacks on health facilities in the Gaza Strip, Abdel Khaleq said that Israel turned its barbaric cannons on the Palestinian health sector, and launched a campaign of killing and destruction against hospitals, health facilities and medical staff, the latest chapter of which was the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital in the northern Gaza Strip, stopping it from operating, emptying it of its residents, and arresting its medical staff and a number of patients.

The Egyptian delegate to the United Nations reviewed the scale of the disaster with the destruction of Kamal Adwan Hospital and the statement issued by the World Health Organization on December 28, which clarified the exit of this last major health facility in the northern Gaza Strip from service, and which indicated that the systematic dismantling of the health system and the siege imposed by Israel on northern Gaza for more than 80 days are now endangering the lives of 75,000 Palestinians remaining in the dangerous area.

He pointed out that the efforts of the World Health Organization and its partners to support hospital operations have failed, which has brought the health lifeline of the northern Gaza Strip to the point of collapse. 

The report of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights issued on December 31 also highlighted the catastrophic consequences of the Israeli attacks on Gaza hospitals, which have pushed the health care system to collapse, and led to the impossibility of obtaining basic life-saving treatment or access to safe places.

Abdel Khaleq stressed that the destruction of the health care system in Gaza, in addition to the restrictions imposed by Israel on the entry and distribution of medical supplies, has led to the deterioration of health conditions and caused a medical disaster and reached the point of real suffering.

He added that the facts reveal the lack of documented evidence of Israel's allegations of using hospitals in the Gaza Strip for purposes other than those for which they were intended. Therefore, it is necessary to emphasize Israel's obligations as the occupying power to ensure the provision of medical services, public health, medical supplies and food to the residents of the Gaza Strip, to approve relief plans, to point out the shortcomings of the Israeli justice system with regard to the conduct of its forces, and the importance of conducting independent and transparent investigations and full accountability for all violations of international humanitarian law and human rights law.