Tunisia’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Ambassador Tarek Ladeb, has called for the immediate cessation of war crimes and genocide against the Palestinian people and urged the UN Security Council to hold the occupying forces accountable for their atrocities without political bias or double standards.
In a speech during a special UN Security Council session on the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue, held on July 17-19 under the presidency of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov, Ambassador Ladeb emphasized the urgent need to end the occupation, which he identified as the root cause of the ongoing violations and crimes.
According to the Tunisian News Agency (TAP) on Sunday, Ladeb underscored that despite numerous meetings of the Security Council, the General Assembly, and the International Court of Justice, along with various resolutions and efforts, the aggression against Gaza and other Palestinian territories continues unabated.
The occupying forces persist in committing war crimes and genocide, exhibiting extreme brutality against the Palestinian people without regard for international law and humanitarian principles.
Ladeb expressed deep concern over the ongoing violations, including the killing of children, women, and the sick; attacks on hospitals, schools, places of worship, aid workers, medical teams, journalists, and UN agency staff; and the obstruction of humanitarian aid, starvation, and forced displacement—all occurring under the world’s watchful eyes and amidst a conspicuous international silence.
He highlighted the failure of the international community to fulfill its legal and moral responsibilities to halt the aggression, save lives, and facilitate humanitarian assistance.
The ambassador criticized the occupying authorities for their continued defiance of international will and disregard for international legitimacy and human rights over more than seven decades, during which UN institutions have failed to perform their expected roles.
This, he said, has allowed the occupying forces to perpetuate their crimes and settlement plans, imposing a fait accompli on the international community.
Ladeb also pointed out that the support received by the occupying authorities within and outside the Security Council, driven by political calculations and the provision of arms, has entrenched double standards and made the occupying forces feel above the law and beyond accountability.
He stressed that the tens of thousands of martyrs, hundreds of thousands of injured, and millions of displaced and famine-threatened Palestinians are not just statistics reported by news agencies and UN meetings, but represent a horrific and unprecedented humanitarian tragedy.
This situation reflects the absence of a firm and decisive international stance upholding the principles of international law, human rights, human dignity, and the right to life, thereby eroding trust in international and UN institutions, particularly the Security Council.
Ladeb reaffirmed Tunisia’s unwavering and principled support for the Palestinian people’s inalienable rights, including their right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent, sovereign state on all of Palestine, with Jerusalem as its capital.
