Vanessa Frazier, Malta’s Permanent Representative to the UN, has told UN News that the Security Council must insist on the release of all Hamas hostages in Gaza, and the unhindered and sufficient flow of humanitarian aid into the Strip.

As part of an unofficial fact-finding trip organized by the United Arab Emirates, Ms. Frazier along with other UN ambassadors representing their countries on the Security Council, were taken on Monday close to the border between Egypt and Gaza to see for themselves the humanitarian efforts being made to bring in aid, and to care for those wounded during the ongoing Israeli military operation. 

Resolution 2712, a Security Council Resolution drafted and tabled by Malta, calling for “humanitarian pauses” in the fighting, was adopted on 15 November, succeeding where other resolutions calling for a ceasefire have so far failed. On Tuesday, after concluding the visit, Ms. Frazier spoke to Conor Lennon from UN News, who began by asking her to describe what they had seen.