Zelenskiy calls for international community to unite against terrorist organisations and states
Ukraine’s presidentVolodymyr Zelenskiyhas said that the international community must come together to fight both terrorist organisations and terrorist states, linking the tactics used by Hamas in its assault onIsraelwith those used by Russia in Ukraine.
He said that Israeli journalists who had been in Ukraine and witnessed the aftermath of atrocities in places like Bucha, where mass graves were discovered, were now seeing similar tactics used in their home country.
Speaking via video link at the Nato parliamentary assembly in Copenhagen, Zelenskiy said that nobody would ever forget the attack on Israel at the weekend, saying: “Thousands of missiles. Shooting people in cars. No one was spared. The terrorists themselves gave the world footage of their atrocities, and were proud of that. They even tried to humiliate the dead. We saw all of this in Israel.”
He said that basic standards of decency – “Do not rape women. Do not kill. Do not consider children as trophies. Do not fill villages and towns with blood. Do not shoot civilians in cars” – could be agreed upon by the international community.
Zelenskiy pointed the finger at Iran, saying that the country could not say it had nothing to do with the invasion of Ukraine if it continues to sell drones to Russia, and Iran could not say it had nothing to do with the attack on Israel when its officials support it.
And in what might be considered a coded criticism of Republican politicians in Washington, Zelenskiy said: “This is not the time to withdraw from the international arena into internal disputes. This is not the time to stay silent.”
Earlier at the event, Mette Frederiksen, the prime minister of Denmark, had also spoken about the violence, saying of the attack on Israel: “Nothing can justify such attacks, nothing. Nothing. We stand with Israel and we stand with Israel’s right to defend itself.”
Israeli minister declares Gaza siege
Israel’s defence minister, Yoav Gallant, said that Israel is imposing a “full siege” on Gaza.
“There is no electricity, there is no food, there is no water, there is no fuel,” he said.
