United Nations (EFE).- Israel’s National Security Minister, the ultranationalist Itamar Ben Gvir, urged Qatar on Tuesday to «open its doors» to Gazans after Emir Tamim bin Hamad Al Thani called the Israeli offensive in Gaza a «genocide» during the opening of the 81st United Nations General Assembly in New York.
«The people of Gaza are begging to emigrate, and Hamas, with the help of Qatar’s rulers who support terrorism, is doing everything possible to stop them,» Ben Gvir wrote in a post on X.
«I have a proposal for the Emir of Qatar: instead of funding Hamas, open your country’s doors to the residents of Gaza who want to emigrate, and let’s see how many stay in Gaza!» added the far-right minister, who has pushed for Palestinian detainees to be tortured in Israeli prisons.
In his address on Tuesday, Al Thani stated that what Israel is doing to Gaza is a «genocide, in every sense the word carries, and a stain on the conscience of all humanity.»
The Qatari leader, the only head of state from an Arab Gulf nation attending the summit in New York, also lamented that «future generations will be stunned by the sheer scale of the gap between the catastrophe and the level of the international response to stop it,» while condemning Israel’s actions.
He further denounced that, faced with the magnitude of global public rejection of Israel’s campaign in Gaza and other parts of the Middle East, Israeli leaders «resort to hurling accusations indiscriminately in all directions» instead of «looking in the mirror.»
In early September, amid early election campaigning, Ben Gvir announced a proposed state plan to expel 1.86 million Gazans from the Strip within seven years, stating that if his party, Otzma Yehudit, remains in the next government, he will demand the creation of a Migration Ministry to carry it out.
Meanwhile, French President Emmanuel Macron denounced the humanitarian crisis in Gaza before the General Assembly, declaring that «this spectacle makes us all ashamed.» He also advocated for the recognition of a Palestinian state as an indispensable necessity to guarantee both Palestinian sovereignty and Israel’s future security.
Macron warned against those who believe Israeli security can be achieved by violating the sovereignty of its neighbors. The French leader emphasized that violating the rights of the region’s peoples is a «fatal mistake» and called on the international community not to resign itself or yield to the «law of the jungle.»
Joining the condemnations, Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan told the UN that Gaza has become «the world’s largest children’s cemetery» and the most inhumane concentration camp. Erdogan accused Israel of operating with a «genocidal mindset» and urged the international community to increase pressure.
The Turkish leader also criticized the United States for vetoing Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas from attending the summit. Furthermore, he called on countries that have not yet done so to reconsider their position and formally recognize the State of Palestine, as the Israeli delegation walked out of the hall in protest during his speech. EFE
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