By Janet Ekstract ISTANBUL – On Tuesday, Turkiye’s President Erdogan addressing he United Nations General Assembly (UNGA), reiterated that the U.N. system and Western values are “dying” in Gaza. As Erdogan commented: “Not only children are dying in Gaza; the United Nations system is also dying, the truth is dying, the values that the West claims to defend are dying, the hopes of humanity to ive in a fairer world are dying one by one.” Erdogan, while condemning Israeli military actions in Gaza – called on world leaders to stop Israel’s Prime Minister Netanyahu, also sharply criticizing countries supporting Netanyahu’s government. Erdogan further added: “I call out to United Nations Security Council, what are you waiting for to prevent the genocide in gaza, to put a stop to this cruelty, this barbarianism?” Meanwhile, Jordan’s King Abdullah II opened his U.N. speech explaining that the U.N. is “under attack, literally and figuratively” because of the conflict between Israel and Gaza. He added that there is a risk of “collapse of global trust and moral authority.” As Abdullah II elaborated: “The UN is under attack, literally and figuratively. For nearly a year, the sky-blue flag flying over UN shelters and schools in Gaza has been powerless to protect innocent civilians from Israeli military bombardment,” The king highlighted a bitter fact: “UN aid trucks sit motionless just miles away from starving Palestinians. Humanitarian workers who proudly wear the emblem of this institution are disparaged and targeted. And the rulings of the UN’s International Court of Justice are defied, its opinions disregarded. So, it’s no surprise that both inside and outside this Hall, trust in UN’s cornerstone principles and ideals is crumbling.”
The Jordanian monarch called on the UN to “establish a protection mechanism” for Palestinians, further commenting: “Now is the time to ensure the protection of the Palestinian people. It is the moral duty of this international community to establish a protection mechanism for them across the occupied territories. This will guarantee the safety of Palestinians and Israelis from extremists who are taking our region to the brink of an all-out war.” In addition, Abdullah II urged the international community to get involved in an “international Gaza humanitarian gateway” to guarantee the delivery of food, water and medicine the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. Another leader who is making Gaza a priority is Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif who spoke to CNN and said “the burning issue of Gaza and the genocide over there,” is at the top of his list. As Sharif remarked: “The world should sit down and resolve this,” adding – this year’s UN Assembly “should be the place” to resolve the conflict. Pakistan’s Defense Minister Khawaja Asif said the U.N. is the “only multilateral platform at the moment” that could resolve the issue.
