Israelis, Palestinians in Fierce Exchanges at UN

There have been angry exchanges between Israeli and Palestinian envoys at the UN, as the diplomatic fallout over deadly violence in Gaza gathered pace.

Some 58 Palestinians were killed when Israeli troops fired on protesters on Monday, with funerals held on Tuesday.

The Palestinian envoy spoke of a “crime against humanity”, while Israel accused the rulers of Gaza, Hamas, of taking their own people hostage.

Monday was the culmination of a six-week protest against Israel.

It was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and also the day the US made the controversial move of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

It was the 70th anniversary of the founding of the state of Israel and also the day the US made the controversial move of its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem.

The emergency meeting of the UN Security Council began with its president, Poland’s Joanna Wronecka, calling a minute’s silence for those killed in Gaza on Monday, along with “others who have died as a result of a conflict that has endured for far too long”.

After a number of nations expressed concern at the violence and some called for an inquiry, the Palestinian and Israeli envoys engaged in a fierce exchange.

Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour said: “We condemn in the most emphatic terms the odious massacre committed by Israel in the Gaza Strip.”

He called for a halt to Israel’s military operations and a transparent international inquiry into what he said was a “brutal Israeli attack on Palestinian people who expressed their resistance”.

Source: BBC