Norway, Belgium, Russia, and China called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, which has been subjected to a devastating Israeli war for about 4 months.
The statements condemning Israeli crimes in Gaza came during a Security Council session on Palestine yesterday evening, Tuesday.
In his statements, Norwegian Foreign Minister Aspen Barth Eide said that the residents of Gaza are not only fleeing as a result of the bombing, but they are also facing problems. Such as: hunger, insufficient health services, a medicine crisis, and access to clean water, stressing that the humanitarian crisis is very severe, and likening the situation on the ground to hell.
He also expressed his solidarity with the residents of the West Bank who are subjected to escalating violence from Israeli settlers, and the high risk of death they face.
The Foreign Minister stated that Norway was one of the first Western countries to call for a ceasefire, stressing the importance of establishing a Palestinian state.
For his part, Belgium’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Philippe Kredelka, said in a speech he delivered on behalf of the Benelux Union, which includes Belgium, the Netherlands and Luxembourg, that the Union is deeply concerned about the humanitarian situation in Gaza and its impact on the civilian population, especially children.
He called on all parties to respect international humanitarian law and not target civilian infrastructure, including civilians, schools and hospitals.
He touched on three main points: first, opening all crossings and operating them at maximum capacity, and ensuring that all humanitarian relief volunteers pass through them without any obstacles, second, facilitating border procedures, and relief organizations delivering aid to Gaza in an effective and sufficient manner, and third, building confidence between the parties.
Kredelka also called for an immediate ceasefire in the Gaza Strip and the release of detainees.
For its part, the Chinese Foreign Ministry said that the highest priority must be given to stopping the war in Gaza as soon as possible and preventing the conflict from getting out of control.
It also called on China to stop harassing civilian ships in the Red Sea, avoid inflaming tensions and protect navigation security, saying, “We believe that the Security Council has never authorized any country to use force against Yemen.”
Russian denunciation
For his part, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov stressed the necessity of calling on the UN Security Council to achieve a ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, noting that the Security Council was unable to take the necessary decisions. Because of US policy regarding the Middle East.
He said that the United States obstructs all attempts and initiatives to stop the bloodshed in the occupied territories, as it either vetoes ceasefire decisions, or does not call for a halt to the escalation of the war in Gaza, and this allows collective punishment against the Palestinians to continue.
Lavrov stated that the military presence of the United States and its allies in the Middle East and elsewhere in the Eurasia region creates new unacceptable risks to international security.
He continued that nearly 30,000 civilians were killed in Gaza, including women and children, and northern Gaza was almost completely destroyed and became uninhabitable, and 80% of Gaza’s population became displaced.
He stressed the need to take the necessary measures urgently to ensure a ceasefire in Palestine and alleviate the suffering of its people.
He described the ideas of displacing Palestinians as “disgusting and disturbing,” stressing their rejection of such “scenarios” and the necessity of not implementing them.
He also stressed the importance of establishing a Palestinian state, saying that the Palestinians, who have been deprived of the opportunity to establish their state for decades, deserve to finally have this problem solved.
Lavrov accused Washington of killing the Quartet formula in the Middle East (Russia, the United States, the European Union, and the United Nations), and that it is now preventing attempts to reduce escalation within the framework of the United Nations.
Since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, leaving 25,490 martyrs and 63,354 injured, most of them children and women, and causing massive destruction and an unprecedented humanitarian disaster.
