Life in Gaza is 'Russian roulette with a bullet in almost every chamber': Palestinian envoy

Palestinian envoy to the UN Majed Bamya warned Wednesday that Palestinians in the Gaza Strip are facing daily life-or-death decisions in what he described as "Russian roulette with a bullet in almost every chamber."

"More than 2 million Palestinians, half of them children, and for more than 650 days now wake up without knowing if they will make it through the day and go to sleep without knowing if they will wake up in the morning," Bamya said during an emergency session of the UN Security Council on Gaza.

"Every single day has its share of tragedies," he said, adding that "we fear the world is growing accustomed to the unbearable, to the unacceptable."

"In Gaza, all paths lead to death," Bamya noted, saying that Israel forces Palestinians to choose between death and displacement.

"Israel wants that path to be leaving Gaza. That was the whole plan from day one," he said.

Saying that Israel blames Palestinians for their own oppression, Bamya stressed that Israel wants to "say, we (Palestinians) chose to leave, we chose to be occupied, we chose to be oppressed. It's always our fault."

He emphasized that humanitarian aid must be delivered "at scale…across all of Gaza," calling it "non-negotiable" and not a matter for political debate.

Bamya noted that between 90 and 130 Palestinians are killed daily, simply "for being Palestinian."

He denounced Israel's actions as crimes against civilians and said no one should be punished or killed based on the acts of a group or government.

He further condemned the erosion of international law and the failure to hold perpetrators accountable.

"What world is this where those defending international law are considered guilty and the perpetrators can never be held to account? Where Israel can be prosecutor, judge and executioner, and then we will ask them to investigate their own crimes?"

Warning of the broader implications, he urged the Council to "Save Gaza, or we are all doomed. Save Gaza, so we can all be saved by Gaza."