Palestinian UN ambassador: Israeli 'tormentors continue to be shielded'

The Palestinian ambassador to the United Nations in New York, Riyad Mansour, said the international community has not been able to "scratch the surface of ending Israeli impunity" as the entire population of northern Gaza is at risk of death due to the nearly month-long Israeli siege. 

"I sat in this Security Council week after week, stood before the General Assembly week after week, hoping to be able to tell my people that help is on the way. They endured horrors that you watch on your TV screens and yet can barely comprehend, but their tormentors continue to be shielded, and Palestinian victims continue to be abandoned," Mansour told a meeting of the UN Security Council to debate the crises in the region on Tuesday.

"As we barely scratch the surface of ending Israeli impunity, Israel continues committing crime after crime, defying every rule and all States assembled in these United Nations, betting that its will to kill and colonize will outweigh the collective will of the international community to save lives and achieve freedom and peace."