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Monday 23 Dec 2024
LOCAL EDITION
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LOCAL EDITION
Injured Palestinians are brought to Al Aqsa Martyrs Hospital for medical treatment as Israeli attacks continue in Deir al Balah, Gaza. (Photo/AA)
UN Security Council ambassadors have travelled to Egypt to meet Palestinian victims of the brutal Israeli war on Gaza, days after the United States blocked a ceasefire resolution.
The informal one-day trip on Monday organised by the United Arab Emirates and Egypt came amid a spiraling humanitarian crisis in the blockaded Palestinian enclave, described as a "graveyard" by United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Around a dozen ambassadors took part from countries including Russia and Britain.
But the US, which vetoed the Security Council resolution calling for a ceasefire on Friday, did not send a representative and neither did France.
The envoys visited a hospital in El Arish near the Rafah border crossing with Gaza, treating people who had been evacuated from the conflict.
Among the people they met was Wafaa Asaad, a 27-year-old from Gaza who was heavily pregnant when her house was hit by an Israeli strike, killing her husband and injuring her two daughters.
'I'm destroyed'
She was evacuated to Egypt for medical treatment and had an arm and leg amputated, but miraculously managed to give birth just hours after crossing the border, her sister Alaa said.
"Our message to the UN is we want the war to stop," Alaa said, her newborn niece laying on a bed beside her.
Ecuador's envoy Jose de la Gasca said he was "destroyed" by the visit to the hospital.
"I just met a young mother who lost a kid and has another little girl who is wounded," he said.
"I dont ever want to see again what I have just seen. It's horrible."
The diplomats were later due to visit the Rafah crossing, the only gateway into Gaza.
Departures via the crossing are tightly controlled, with only foreign nationals and severely wounded people allowed to leave Gaza in most circumstances.
'I'm destroyed'
She was evacuated to Egypt for medical treatment and had an arm and leg amputated, but miraculously managed to give birth just hours after crossing the border, her sister Alaa said.
"Our message to the UN is we want the war to stop," Alaa said, her newborn niece laying on a bed beside her.
Ecuador's envoy Jose de la Gasca said he was "destroyed" by the visit to the hospital.
"I just met a young mother who lost a kid and has another little girl who is wounded," he said.
"I dont ever want to see again what I have just seen. It's horrible."
The diplomats were later due to visit the Rafah crossing, the only gateway into Gaza.
Departures via the crossing are tightly controlled, with only foreign nationals and severely wounded people allowed to leave Gaza in most circumstances.
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Source: TRT
