UN Secretary-General calls for Ceasefire in Gaza

The meeting was attended by representatives of world states including Foreign ministers of Pakistan, Palestine, Sudan, and Turkey along with the UN representatives.

Addressing the United Nations General Assembly meeting, the UN Secretary-General said that the safety of the citizens must be ensured in Gaza and insisted on a truce right away.

Showing his concern about the war-ravaged Gaza, the UN representative commented that the real price of the conflict is being paid by the kids who were killed in the atrocities.

“The Israel-Palestine dispute cannot be neglected; the parties should not target the masses”, the Secretary-General added.

Demanding a ceasefire on both sides, António Guterres maintained that the ongoing tension between Israel-Palestine must be stopped.

The UN representative commented on the act of Israel upon targeting hospitals amid the virus and mentioned about 200 causalities in Palestine.

On the other hand, Foreign Minister of Pakistan, Shah Mehmood Qureshi also addressed the meeting of the UNGA to shed light on Israeli atrocities against Palestinians.

"There are times in history when decisions of nations are remembered by posterity. This is one such moment," Qureshi said, as he began his address.

"What we do today or cannot do will be recorded in history. Driven by arrogance and emboldened by impunity, Israel has mounted a relentless onslaught on the occupied and beleaguered people of Palestine," the foreign minister further added.

Qureshi said out loud and clear that the international human rights laws are being violated by Israel as a series of airstrikes have been made on Gaza and the fundamental freedom of Palestinians has been snatched.

“The indiscriminate use of force by the Israeli forces has resulted in deaths and injuries to a large number of innocent Palestinians, including women and children,” he added.

Qureshi had arrived in New York on Wednesday along with his counterparts from Turkey, Palestine, and Sudan.

The Foreign Minister of Palestine, H.E. Riad Malki also addressed the meeting commenting about the atrocities faced by Palestinians.

“We endured everything from killings to getting homeless, but Israel is not giving up its barbarism,” said the Palestinian foreign minister.

“Israel is not ashamed of killing Palestinians and defends its actions as if it were their right,” said Riad Malki, “Israel displaced thousands of Palestinians during the Corona outbreak,” he added.

An international effort is observed in the first UNGA session amid the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure a ceasefire in the occupied Palestinian territories after a week of deadly cross-border violence.

It is to be noted that Israel strikes on Gaza had killed more than 200 Palestinians including 65 children, according to Gaza Health Ministry.