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Palestinian envoy to the U.N. Riyad Mansour wrote in a letter to the U.N. Security Council on Tuesday and said that the Israel has declared an all-out war on the Palestinian people, ratcheting up its long-running campaign of violence and State terror against the people it has been ruthlessly occupying and persecuting for decades.
The Palestinian envoy to the UN further wrote, "Israel's war is being carried out indiscriminately and wantonly, in grave breach of international law, with the explicit purpose of inflicting enormous human loss, suffering and destruction, compounding its massive collective punishment of the Palestinian civilian population it has held captive in Gaza under an inhumane 16-year blockade." The Palestinian envoy also mentioned the Israel's Defence Minister's statement in the letter, which said, "We are fighting human animals... We are imposing a complete siege on Gaza. There will be no electricity, no water, no fuel. Everything will be closed". He claimed that "Israeli occupying forces (IOF)" continue attacking civilian areas across the Gaza Strip, firing missiles, bombs and artillery by air, land and sea. Violating all rules of international humanitarian law, Israel is deliberately targeting homes, including apartment buildings, refugee camps, hospitals and other medical facilities, UNRWA schools, mosques, and other civilian properties and infrastructure, including roads, hampering the passage of emergency vehicles and access of humanitarian personnel to aid the wounded. The letter mentioned that the casualties are estimated at 849 Palestinians killed, including families in their entirety throughout Gaza, and over 5,350 wounded by lethal IOF attacks in the days since Israel began its onslaught on 7 October. The toll is rising by the minute. The casualties include 19 Palestinians, including 4 children, killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, as Israel presses on with its attacks on the civilian population, attacks that were incessant prior to 7 October and are now escalating as it intensifies its onslaught. He emphasised that the harm being done to children and women is unspeakable. Children are being traumatized and terrorized, orphaned by the hundreds as their parents are murdered before their eyes, displaced as their homes are blown up and reduced to rubble, and are among the dead and wounded, with reports of over 140 children killed. As of this writing, it is estimated that more than 80 women are also among the dead, with casualty figures still rising. Giving details about the destruction, the Palestinian envoy sought the stopping the bloodshed and saving civilian lives and reiterated that the targeting of civilians must be halted immediately. Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said he has ordered a "complete siege" of the Gaza Strip. "I have ordered a complete siege on the Gaza Strip. There will be no electricity, no food, no fuel, everything is closed. We are fighting human animals, and we act accordingly," said Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant. More than 2 million people live in Gaza, who have been at the receiving end of the harsh blockade since 2007, but now, Israel aims towards a "complete siege" by denying Gaza all supplies in response to the unexpected and brutal Hamas attack on Israel on Saturday. (ANI)
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