Representatives of several Middle Eastern countries roundly condemned Israel as they took the floor at the General Debate of the United Nations General Assembly in New York on Saturday, accusing the Jewish state of committing acts of “genocide” in the Gaza Strip and calling for an independent Palestinian state.

Representing Cairo was Foreign Minister Badr Abdelatty, who focused the bulk of his speech on Egypt’s neighbor to the east, heavily criticizing Israel for the destruction in Gaza as well as for its military action further afield.

Jerusalem, he said, has an “extremist ideology” and is bent on destabilizing the region and contravening the purpose of the UN.

“The Middle East is at the point of implosion,” he warned, pointing to Israel’s “wanton aggression” as the cause of regional instability.

“Our Palestinian brothers and sisters are falling victim to the most heinous Israeli actions,” he bewailed. “It’s a war — a wanton, unjust war waged against defenseless civilians, for a sin they did not commit, driven by an extremist ideology.”

Israel’s war in Gaza, which is on the cusp of its third year, was sparked by the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led invasion of southern Israel, in which some 1,200 people were killed and 251 were seized as hostages.

In the 24 months since, the Hamas-run health ministry — whose figures cannot be verified and which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians — says that more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza have been killed.

Abdelatty declared that “the continued Israeli occupation, the genocide transpiring today in the Gaza Strip, depriving the Palestinian people of their legitimate rights, most notably the right to establish its independent state… hollows out any narrative of peace and security in the region.”

“Israel cannot be secure when others are not secure,” said the Egyptian foreign minister. “The region cannot see stability without an independent State of Palestine.”

Setting his sights on the wider region, Abdelatty condemned Israel’s recent strike targeting Hamas leaders in Qatar, and accused it of violating Lebanon’s and Syria’s sovereignty with repeated airstrikes within their borders.

“It is of utmost importance to respect the........

© The Times of Israel