The Maldives has called on the UN to expedite humanitarian assistance to the people of Gaza and to bring an end to Israel's cutting off of essential services such as water, electricity and food supplies.
Addressing the international community at a committee meeting of the UN General Assembly, Hala Hameed, the Maldives Foreign Ministry's Bilateral Secretary, said the people of Gaza were fighting for their lives.
“The blockade must be lifted to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid. Medicine, food and basic supplies need to be delivered through humanitarian corridors to the people of Palestine. We must treat this need with the greatest urgency. We must act immediately to address this extremely dire situation or we might be too late,” Hala said.
“It is crucial to acknowledge that at this critical moment, the situation in Gaza is a matter of survival with access to food, fuel, water and electricity being cut off, with people fighting for their very existence and the most fundamental of human rights. Mr Chair, it raises profound questions about our commitment to the ‘leave no behind’ principle to achieve sustainable development.”
International organizations have also warned of a humanitarian disaster with Gaza deprived of water and electricity and hospitals left without electricity. Hundreds of vessels with aid for Gaza remain stuck at the Rafah border in Egypt, unable to move due to Israeli's threat of attacks.
Four days have passed since Israel cut off water and electricity in Gaza.
The Maldives took note of hundreds of deaths and the destruction of schools, hospitals and mosques most needed by the community in Gaza.
In addition to calling for an end to attacks against civilians from both sides, Hala Hameed on behalf of the Maldivian people condemned Israel's demand for a million people in the north of Gaza to move south within 24 hours as a violation of human rights.
The people of Maldives will always stand with the people of Palestine, Hala said, underscoring the importance of peace in the Middle East to the Maldives and the wider world.
The number of people martyred in Israeli attacks in Palestine has now reached 2,750 and the number of people killed by Hamas attacks in Israel has exceeded 1,400.
Hamas launched the first attack in the war with rockets and attacks through land and by air with paragliders, after which Israel declared war and continuously attacked Gaza over the past 10 days.
While Hamas has also been launching continuous attacks, the Hezbollah group operating in Lebanon has also been attacking Israel.
