Palestine on the Recent Violence in Gaza - Media Stakeout (13 November 2018)

Informal comments to the media by H.E. Ambassador Riyad Mansour, Permanent Representative of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, on the situation in the Middle East.
Palestinian ambassador Riyad Mansour condemned “in the strongest possible terms” Israeli “aggression" on Gaza and called on the Security Council to “shoulder its responsibility.”
Speaking today (13 Nov) to reporters following a closed meeting of the Council, which was called for by Kuwait and Bolivia, Mansour said Israel “precipitated this round of violence for the last 48 hours” when Israeli soldiers dressed as civilians entered three kilometres into Gaza and were confronted by militants there. He said the Security Council was “paralysed” as one particular country refused action on Palestinian issues but underscored that his delegation would “keep knocking on the door of Security Council to shoulder its responsibility.”
The Palestinian ambassador expressed his appreciation for the Egyptian efforts to reinstate a 2014-ceasfire and hoped the efforts would hold. Mansour said the agreement was not only a ceasefire but a beginning to the process of lift the Israeli blockade on Gaza which he described as “immoral, illegal,” and “inhumane.” He stressed that people in Gaza were facing a “miserable situation” adding that the blockade needed to be lifted so that Palestinians there could return to a “a normal situation, as much as “normal” could be under occupation.”