Hold Israel accountable for terrorism: Maldives president tells UN

Maldivian President Mohamed Muizzu urged the international community on Tuesday to hold Israel accountable for “acts of terrorism” as he pushed back against violation of international law.

“Israel must be held accountable for these acts of terrorism, for these violations of international law and UN resolutions,” Muizzu told the UN General Assembly in New York, referring to indiscriminate bombing of the Gaza Strip by Tel Aviv.

He said the international community must only accept a sovereign and independent Palestinian state on pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

The Maldives believes that violation of a right “by any country -- large and small, rich or poor, with powerful friends or not -- must not be tolerated. This is why the ongoing massacre -- the genocide -- by Israel in Gaza, is a travesty of justice and the international system,” said Muizzu.

“The world is struggling to process the deaths of so many civilians in Gaza and now Israeli raids in Lebanon are claiming hundreds more civilians lives there,” he said. “Their cries haunt anyone with humanity. Their tears, bitter on our conscience.”

Slamming the regime of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for targeting and killing journalists, the Maldivian president termed it a “brutal attempt to prevent the world from knowing about the crimes taking place” in the besieged enclave as he welcomed the UN decision to seat Palestine in the General Assembly.Israel has continued a brutal offensive against Gaza since a cross-border attack by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, on Oct. 7 last year which killed nearly 1,200 Israelis, according to Israeli figures, despite a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate ceasefire.

According to Gaza health authorities, Israeli attacks in Gaza have killed nearly 41,400 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and injured more than 95,700.

Tensions have also risen between the Lebanese group, Hezbollah, and Israel amid escalating cross-border attacks and growing fears of a full-scale war in the region.