Palestine’s representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansour, chided the Security Council for staying silent on the ongoing humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip created by Israel’s blockade of the Palestinian enclave.

Mansour, the head of the Permanent Observer Mission of Palestine at the United Nations, said that, by failing to reach consensus on a resolution or presidential statement, the security council has not lived up to its obligation to remedy the “tragic situation” in Gaza.

Speaking at the UN headquarters in New York City, Mansour said that “the humanitarian crisis in Gaza Strip is the cumulative result of the policies and cruel practices by Israel, the occupying Power, against Palestinian civilian population in Gaza Strip, which include the illegal collective punishment of the population across the continued closure of the border in Gaza and the obstruction of humanitarian supplies, fuel, and military attacks by the Israeli occupying forces, which had caused more death, destruction and suffering among Palestinian population on a large scale.”

Mansour also praised Arab states, headed by Saudi Arabia, for “engaging actively and and constructively in this matter.