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UN / PALESTINIAN QUESTION
STORY: UN / PALESTINIAN QUESTION
TRT: 04:24
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGES: ENGLISH / CHINESE / NATS
DATELINE: 22 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior UN Headquarters
20 FEBRUARY 2024, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. SOUNDBITE (English) Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“I cannot stress enough how urgently we need a deal that will bring about a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of hostages. I reiterate my call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for a humanitarian ceasefire. In the meantime, I will continue to urge all concerned – including Israeli authorities - to address the key impediments to our humanitarian response on the ground.”
4. Wide shot, Security Council
5. SOUNDBITE (English) Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“IDPs face acute shortages of food, water, shelter, and medicine. Communicable diseases are rising amid unsanitary conditions; and over 2 million people face extreme food insecurity, with women and children at greatest risk. This desperation and scarcity has led to a near-total breakdown in law and order. Essential services have been heavily impacted by the fighting. Eighty-four percent of health and education facilities are damaged or destroyed. Over 62 percent of all roads and electricity feeder lines are unusable.”
6. Med shot, delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“Our capacity to deliver depends on coordinated humanitarian movements, effective deconfliction with the parties, and Israeli approvals for essential communications equipment and armored vehicles – all of which provide the minimum conditions for staff to work safely. This must be improved – UN convoys and compounds must not be hit and our equipment needs clearance.”
8. Med shot, delegates
9. SOUNDBITE (English) Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, United Nations:
“The scale of the emergency we are facing is staggering and could quickly spiral out of control in the region. I appeal for a collective, coordinated, and comprehensive response to not only address the immediate crisis before us in Gaza, but to help restore a political horizon for Palestinians and Israelis, alike, while promoting greater stability and peace in the region.”
10. Med shot, delegates
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF):
“A new draft resolution by the United States ostensibly calls for a ceasefire. However, this is misleading at best. This Council should reject any resolution that further hampers humanitarian efforts on the ground and leads this Council to tacitly endorse the continued violence and mass atrocities in Gaza. The people of Gaza need a ceasefire not when “practicable”, but now. They need a sustained ceasefire, not a “temporary period of calm”. Anything short of this is gross negligence.”
12. Med shot, MSF Secretary General
13. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations / Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs, United States:
“A temporary ceasefire conditioned on an agreement to release the hostages is the first step. Again, this is the best path forward.”
14. Med shot, delegates
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative to the United Nations / Alternate Representative for Special Political Affairs, United States:
“We cannot forget that 1.5 million civilians in Rafah and other civilians across Gaza would not be in harm’s way right now if Hamas abided by the laws of war, did not embed itself with civilians, did not hide in tunnel complexes beneath hospitals and schools, and did not engage in other atrocities.”
16. Med shot, delegates
17. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Zhang Jun, Permanent Representative to the United Nations, China:
“The veto by the United States 2 days ago, meant this Council missed yet another opportunity to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The continuation of the conflict, even for another day, will cause even more civilian casualties and lead to a greater catastrophe. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza is an urgent imperative to save innocent lives and to prevent a wider war.”
18. Wide shot, Security Council
Addressing the Security Council today (22 Feb) on the Palestinian question, Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said, “I cannot stress enough how urgently we need a deal that will bring about a humanitarian ceasefire and the release of hostages.”
Wennesland also reiterated his call for the immediate and unconditional release of all hostages and for a humanitarian ceasefire. In the meantime, I will continue to urge all concerned – including Israeli authorities - to address the key impediments to our humanitarian response on the ground.”
He continued, “IDPs face acute shortages of food, water, shelter, and medicine. Communicable diseases are rising amid unsanitary conditions; and over 2 million people face extreme food insecurity, with women and children at greatest risk. This desperation and scarcity has led to a near-total breakdown in law and order. Essential services have been heavily impacted by the fighting. Eighty-four percent of health and education facilities are damaged or destroyed. Over 62 percent of all roads and electricity feeder lines are unusable.”
He explained, “Our capacity to deliver depends on coordinated humanitarian movements, effective deconfliction with the parties, and Israeli approvals for essential communications equipment and armored vehicles – all of which provide the minimum conditions for staff to work safely. This must be improved – UN convoys and compounds must not be hit, and our equipment needs clearance.”
He stated, “The scale of the emergency we are facing is staggering and could quickly spiral out of control in the region. I appeal for a collective, coordinated, and comprehensive response to not only address the immediate crisis before us in Gaza, but to help restore a political horizon for Palestinians and Israelis, alike, while promoting greater stability and peace in the region.”
Also addressing the Council today, Christopher Lockyear, Secretary General of Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) stated, “A new draft resolution by the United States ostensibly calls for a ceasefire. However, this is misleading at best. This Council should reject any resolution that further hampers humanitarian efforts on the ground and leads this Council to tacitly endorse the continued violence and mass atrocities in Gaza. The people of Gaza need a ceasefire not when “practicable”, but now. They need a sustained ceasefire, not a “temporary period of calm”. Anything short of this is gross negligence.”
Robert Wood, Deputy Permanent Representative of the United States of America to the United Nations, said, “A temporary ceasefire conditioned on an agreement to release the hostages is the first step. Again, this is the best path forward.”
He also said, “We cannot forget that 1.5 million civilians in Rafah and other civilians across Gaza would not be in harm’s way right now if Hamas abided by the laws of war, did not embed itself with civilians, did not hide in tunnel complexes beneath hospitals and schools, and did not engage in other atrocities.”
Zhang Jun, Chinese Permanent Representative to the United Nations, said, “The veto by the United States 2 days ago, meant this Council missed yet another opportunity to push for a ceasefire in Gaza. The continuation of the conflict, even for another day, will cause even more civilian casualties and lead to a greater catastrophe. An immediate ceasefire in Gaza is an urgent imperative to save innocent lives and to prevent a wider war.”
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