By: Chioma Madonna Ndukwu
Algeria’s Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Amar Bendjama, broke down in tears on Wednesday as he read the farewell letter of Palestinian journalist Mariam Abu Daqqa, who was killed in an Israeli airstrike on Gaza’s Nasser Hospital earlier this week.
Abu Daqqa, 33, was among five journalists killed in the strike that also claimed 20 other Palestinian lives. Before her death, she left behind a message for her 13-year-old son, Gaith, urging him to live fully in her memory.
“You are the heart and soul of your mother … when I die, pray for me, not cry for me. And when you grow, when you marry, and when you have a daughter, name her Mariam, after me,” she wrote. Bendjama described her words as carrying “more truth than any official statement.”
Visibly emotional, the envoy accused Israel of deliberately targeting journalists to silence reporting on Gaza. “They carry nothing but words and images, yet 245 journalists have been killed,” he said, noting that six more lost their lives in late August. “This very Security Council did nothing after this crime.”
Bendjama also recalled the image of two-year-old Yazan Abu Foul, emaciated and held by his father, as a grim reflection of Gaza’s humanitarian catastrophe. He condemned the council for becoming “a theatre of lamentation” instead of taking action.
“Stopping genocide is not optional. To fail is to be complicit, to delay is to accept shame. To stop it is an obligation,” he declared.
The Security Council session focused on Gaza’s deepening humanitarian crisis, with UN officials warning of famine spreading across the enclave. Fourteen members denounced the use of starvation as a weapon of war, calling for a permanent ceasefire, the release of hostages, and increased humanitarian aid. The United States was the only member that did not endorse the declaration.
Since October 2023, nearly 63,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza by Israeli military action, which has left the territory on the brink of collapse. Israel now faces charges of genocide at the International Court of Justice, while the International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes.
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