Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves of St Vincent (SVG), who also holds the position of president of CELAC, told the media in Kingstown on Friday that what is happening in Gaza is entirely unacceptable.
Israel has engaged in bombardment of the Gaza Strip as a retaliatory measure following the incursion by Hamas in the southern region of the Middle East nation and the tragic loss of civilian lives on October 7, 2023.
Gonsalves said SVG adopted the position of the Secretary General of the United Nations in which he said that Gaza has become a graveyard for Palestinian children.
“Even if Israel establishes a right to self-defence in respect of what happened on October 7th with Hamas in Israel, self-defence cannot be disproportionate if it is self-defense. You can’t have revenge and genocide as part of self-defence, and you cannot impose collective punishment; all these things are illegal under international humanitarian law and international human rights law”, Gonsalves stated.
St Vincent at the General Assembly a few weeks ago voted for the resolution that called for a humanitarian truce. The CARICOM countries voted for the resolution save and accept Haiti, which abstained, and Jamaica, which did not conclude its position and therefore didn’t vote.
According to Gonsalves, the initial phrasing of the resolution addressed the matter of humanitarian assistance and also addressed the matter of a cessation of hostilities. The aforementioned proposal was then reframed as a humanitarian ceasefire, garnering support from 120 votes, while 14 votes were cast in opposition, including those from the United States. Additionally, 40 additional countries, including a majority of America’s European and other allies, chose to abstain from voting.
”There has come a time when the international community just has to speak out. I mean, what is happening there in Gaza is horrendous. A simple parallel will tell you,like in the domestic situation. If you box me in my chest and I have a right to self-defence, I kind of can’t take a gun and kill you. And I’m saying if self-defence is available, if I box you back in your chest or maybe in your face, it would be proportionate, but I can’t go hunt down your whole family”.
Gonsalves said he was using the domestic analogy, though not the best form of analysis, because it is something to get people’s minds thinking about it.
Latest From CNN
On Saturday the network said the Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City was surrounded on all four sides by Israeli forces and under “complete siege”.
Hostilities around the hospital, Gaza’s largest, “have not stopped,” according to Médecins Sans Frontières, also known as Doctors Without Borders. Constant bombardment is preventing patients and staff from evacuating and has kept ambulances from collecting the wounded, according to the organization.
A freelance journalist told CNN the situation is dire, with medics working by candlelight, food being rationed, and other resources dwindling.
The Israeli army told CNN it is engaged in “ongoing intense fighting” against Hamas in the vicinity of the hospital complex, but denies firing at the northern Gaza medical center and rejected suggestions the hospital is under siege. Israel has said it is in touch with hospital leaders and has offered assistance with evacuations.
CNN said they were unable to confirm whether anyone was able to leave the hospital complex over the course of the day.
About the war
A series of coordinated attacks, conducted by the Palestinian Islamist militant group Hamas, from the Gaza Strip onto bordering areas in Israel, commenced on Saturday 7 October 2023, a Sabbath day and date of several Jewish holidays. The attacks initiated the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, almost exactly fifty years after the Yom Kippur War began on 6 October 1973. Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups named the attacks Operation Al-Aqsa Flood .
The attacks began in the early morning with a rocket barrage of at least 3,000 rockets launched against Israel and vehicle-transported and powered paraglider incursions into its territory.Palestinian militants breached the Gaza–Israel barrier, targeting civilians for killing[citation needed] in neighboring Israeli communities and attacking military bases. In a single day, nearly 800 Israeli civilians and a minimum of 385 Israeli soldiers and policemen were killed in nearby towns, kibbutzim, military bases and at a music festival near Re’im. Around 200 Israeli civilians and soldiers were taken as hostages to the Gaza Strip, of which the number of kidnapped children is about 30.
At least 44 nations, mostly Western, denounced the attack as terrorism, while Arab and Muslim countries including Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Syria, Iran and Iraq have blamed Israel for the attack. The day was described by various media outlets and politicians, like US President Joe Biden, as the bloodiest in Israel’s history and the deadliest for Jews since the Holocaust.
