By Merve Aydogan
HAMILTON, Canada (AA) - Palestine's deputy UN envoy Majed Bamya said Tuesday that the international community is on track to fail the survivors of the war in the Gaza Strip, "just as it failed those who were killed."
"It is difficult to convey what it means to speak here on behalf of the people of Palestine as they endure genocide," Bamya said at a high-level UN meeting marking the 10th anniversary of International Day of Commemoration and Dignity of the Victims of Genocide. He urged those who dispute the term to "direct your outrage not at terminology, but at the atrocities themselves."
Calling the devastation in Gaza "one of the most documented crimes in modern history," he said it is "live-streamed for all to see," recorded by those suffering "in the hope that the world watching would act, and even recorded by those committing the crimes, confident they will never be held to account."
"Which one of them will we prove right? The victims or the perpetrators?" he asked, and noted that human rights groups, UN experts and states have recognized the crime of genocide, yet meaningful action never followed.
"But where were the measures to prevent genocide in Palestine? Where are the measures to punish it?" he said.
Citing the International Court of Justice's early warnings in the case brought by South Africa, Bamya said the Court identified "the real and imminent risk" to Palestinians and ordered Israel to change course, "yet Israel refused to comply."
Despite repeated provisional measures, "the attacks intensified and starvation turned into famine," he said, adding that "the risk became reality."
Bamya highlighted statements by Israeli officials after Oct. 7 that "left no doubt about intent," including declarations that "there are no innocents in Gaza," vows of "total destruction," and references to Palestinians as "human animals."
"To them, there were no innocents in Gaza. Not the children killed, orphaned, or amputated. Not the journalists targeted in numbers unseen in modern times. Not the humanitarian workers and UN personnel killed deliberately and systematically," he said.
He stressed that the destruction of homes, hospitals, universities and infrastructure, along with systematic aid denial, created "every condition … to make life impossible," adding that "these are not accidents or by product of war. They are premediated actions aimed at achieving clear goals."
Bamya said survivors continue to be killed, maimed, displaced and denied lifesaving assistance, and warned that "experience teaches us that the denial of justice, for generations, has allowed crimes to return again and again."
"We failed those who were killed. We must not continue failing those who survive," he said, emphasizing that "none of us is above the law, and all victims are deserving of justice. Palestinian victims are no different."