Kashim Shettima, the vice president of Nigeria, has argued in favor of Palestine’s independence at the UNGA in 2024.
According to reports, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) launched airstrikes and conducted ground operations in the Gaza Strip on October 7, 2023, in response to a devastating attack by Hamas on Israel. This marked the beginning of the continuing conflict between Israel and Palestine.
According to reports as of September 2024, 1,706 Israelis and 41,431 Palestinians had perished in the Israel-Hamas conflict.
At the 79th General Assembly, Vice President Shettima responded to the ongoing crisis by saying, “We can’t discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation, or humanitarian imperatives today without reflecting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.”
He said that the Palestinian people should have their own independence when speaking to world leaders on Wednesday.
“Today, we are all witnesses to the heart-wrenching situation in Gaza and other Palestinian Territories. We can’t discuss war and peace, conflicts and reconciliation or humanitarian imperatives without reflecting on the Israeli Palestinian conflict that has been raging since 7th October 2023.
“What this tells us is that the international community has failed to live up to the spirit and aspirations of the United Nations to rid the world of inequality, violence and dominance of one people by another. Justice is antithetical to revenge.
”Freedom is a natural entitlement that can’t be denied to any people. The Palestinian people deserve independence. They deserve to have their own territories already recognised by this very Assembly and international law, which is being routinely ignored.”
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