Terrorism will never be tolerated, hostages must be brought back, India expresses concern over Gaza

Expressing grave concern over the situation in Palestine, India on Thursday said there is an urgent need for permanent humanitarian aid to deliver relief and said the conflict should not spill over into the region or beyond. India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations, Arindam Bagchi, said this in a statement during the 55th session of the Human Rights Council in an interactive dialogue following the report of the United Nations High Commissioner on the Humanitarian Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Arindam Bagchi also emphasized the need to be clear about the sovereign obligation to comply with international humanitarian law. Arindam Bagchi said that the current situation in Palestine is a matter of grave concern, with massive loss of civilian lives, especially women and children, and the human toll is very alarming. This is clearly unacceptable and we strongly condemn the death of all civilians.

He said there was an urgent need for a permanent humanitarian corridor to provide relief. This should not spill over into or out of the conflict zone. India asserted that a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the two-state principle has become more imperative than ever.

Terrorism and hostage taking are unacceptable

India's Permanent Representative to the United Nations said that these are not options, these are all necessary and until we can resolve all of these, we cannot really solve the problem. He said that we must be clear that terrorism and hostage-taking are unacceptable and these actions deserve our condemnation. India's strategy towards terrorism has been zero tolerance. The hostages must return.

Support the Palestinian people

He said that India, on its part, will continue to support the people of Palestine through bilateral development partnership and will also continue to send humanitarian aid to the people of Palestine. UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk said in his statement that the report on the current situation on Palestine is very painful to read.

Expressed concern over Gaza

Volker Turk said that it seems that the horror situation unfolding before our eyes in Gaza knows no bounds – it cannot be expressed in words. More than one lakh people have been killed or injured since the beginning of October.