In a deeply emotional address at the United Nations, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour broke down on Tuesday as he condemned Israel’s ongoing military operations in Gaza, sharing wrenching stories of civilian suffering and calling for urgent international intervention.
Fighting back tears, Mansour began his remarks with a heartfelt plea, invoking the tragedy of Dr. Al Najar, a Gazan physician who lost nine of her ten children in an airstrike. “She was saving lives when her own children were brought into her hospital, already dead, their bodies burned,” he said. “A horror no parent should ever face.”
Mansour described a sharp rise in child casualties following the breakdown of the March ceasefire, citing that over 1,300 Palestinian children have been killed and around 4,000 injured. “These are children,” he emphasized, his voice cracking. “Still, the war goes on—against children.”
He painted a grim picture of starvation in Gaza, describing scenes of mothers clinging to the lifeless bodies of their children. “They caress their hair, they speak to them, they apologize,” Mansour said, his voice laden with grief.
Personalizing the suffering, the ambassador referenced his own family. “I have grandchildren. I know what they mean to their families. This sorrow is unbearable.”
Striking the podium for emphasis, Mansour condemned what he described as global indifference to the escalating crisis. “The flames and hunger consuming Palestinian children—this is why 14 million Palestinians are outraged,” he said. “It is more than anyone can endure.”
“We love our children. We love our people,” he added. “We do not want them to face such tragedy or these savage attacks.”
In a defiant closing, Mansour reaffirmed Palestinian ties to their homeland. “We are rooted in Palestine more deeply than the Roman olive trees. We will not leave. We will not disappear.”
His speech ended with a direct appeal to the UN Security Council: “Do something. Stop this crime. Stop this genocide against the Palestinian people.”
