UNITED NATIONS (Pakistan Point News / Sputnik - 20th May, 2021) The UN General Assembly on May 20 will convene a special in-person session - the first since the start of the coronavirus pandemic - to discuss the ongoing escalation in the Gaza Strip.
The meeting will be held in a so-called hybrid format after some top diplomats decided to address the General Assembly in person. Pakistan Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi has already departed for New York as have his Turkish and Palestinian counterparts, Mevlut Cavusoglu and Riad Malki.
"On our way to New York together [with] my brothers Riad Malki of Palestine and Shah Mahmood Qureshi of Pakistan!" Cavosuglu said in a Twitter post accompanied by a�photograph where the three officials can be seen boarding a plane for the General Assembly session.
"In the UN General Assembly, together we will stand up against Israel's atrocities and defend our Palestinian brothers and sisters," he said.
Sudanese Foreign Minister Mariam al-Sadiq al-Mahdi will also arrive in New York to address the emergency session on Palestine.
The decision to call a meeting comes as part of international efforts to de-escalate the renewed conflict between Israel and Hamas, which has already claimed the lives of at least 219 Palestinians and 12 Israelis.
The latest episode of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict started on May 10 after civil unrest in East Jerusalem, prompting hostilities on the border of Israel and the Gaza Strip, with Palestinian militants firing thousands of rockets at Israel and the latter retaliating with airstrikes.
