Palestinian envoy calls to uphold Gaza ceasefire, prevent its collapse

By Rania Abu Shamala

ISTANBUL (AA) – The Palestinian envoy to the United Nations, Majed Bamya, called Thursday for upholding the Gaza ceasefire deal between Hamas and Israel and preventing its collapse.

“Our goal is to collectively work to ensure the ceasefire holds, and prevent its collapse,” Bamya told a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East.

The envoy praised the “constant engagement” of Türkiye, Egypt, Qatar, and the US to broker and maintain the ceasefire, calling it “an opportunity to save lives.”

Bamya stressed that the ceasefire “is here,” even if “imperfect, volatile, transgressed, or fragile,” saying the world’s responsibility now is to maintain it rather than standing by as it unravels.

“We do not forget the journalists… the doctors… the humanitarians killed while trying to save lives,” he added, mourning the thousands of Palestinian civilians killed in the Israeli genocidal war.

The Palestinian delegate reaffirmed his government’s commitment to peace and the two-state solution.

“There is no Israeli security at the expense of Palestinian lives and Palestinian rights,” he said. “Peace cannot come from the denial of these rights; it comes from their fulfillment.”

Bamya called for transforming the Gaza ceasefire deal into “a just and lasting peace.”

The first phase of US President Donald Trump’s 20-point Gaza ceasefire deal was reached on Oct. 10. Phase one includes the release of Israeli hostages in exchange for Palestinian prisoners. The plan also envisages the rebuilding of Gaza and the establishment of a new governing mechanism without Hamas.

Since October 2023, the Israeli genocidal war has killed over 68,200 people and injured more than 170,300, according to the Gaza Health Ministry.