‘War is Underway’, Warns Kenyan Envoy to UN on Middle East

In a startling tweet on Tuesday, Kenya’s envoy to the United Nations, Martin Kimani, sounded the alarm on escalating tensions in the Middle East.

Kimani posted a tense and crowded video of the UN Security Council chamber just moments before an open debate on the situation in the Middle East, which included discussions on the Palestinian question.

In his tweet, Kimani issued a dire warning: “War is Underway.”

He emphasised the “urgent need for wisdom and the importance of learning from historical lessons to prevent the current situation from spiraling into a regional conflagration”.

The Security Council is holding its quarterly open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question”.

Brazilian Minister of Foreign Affairs Mauro Vieira will chair the meeting. UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland, and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT) Lynn Hastings are the expected briefers.

The underway meeting follows a period of intense, yet inconclusive, Council engagement on this file over the past few weeks.

It will be the fourth time that Council members have convened to discuss this agenda item since the 7 October large-scale attacks against Israel led by Hamas, the Palestinian armed group and de facto authority in Gaza.

According to figures provided by Israeli authorities cited by OCHA, the Hamas-led attack has resulted in the killing of approximately 1,400 Israeli and foreign nationals and the wounding of more than 4,900 others. Over 200 hostages are reported to have been taken into the Gaza Strip.

On Saturday last week, Jordanian King Abdullah said in his opening speech at the Cairo Peace Summit that the forced or internal displacement of Palestinians would be a war crime.

The summit was held as Israel prepared a ground assault on Gaza following Hamas’ attack.

More than 4,100 Palestinians have been killed in Israel’s counteroffensive, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, amid a growing humanitarian crisis.

President Ruto made a comment in the midst of the ongoing war between the Hamas and Israeli forces, and it created a flurry of responses and prompted inquiries about Kenya’s position on the Israel-Hamas conflict.

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