NEW YORK, Kuwait's Minister of Foreign Affairs Abdullah Al-Yahya said Wednesday that Israeli occupation military operations seek to destroy and terrorize Palestinians. Delivering Kuwait's speech before a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, Al-Yahya said Gaza has turned into a bleak landscape of destruction, with 40,000 deaths, mostly women and children. The total number of victims under the rubble is unknown, he added. Leading Kuwait's delegation to the meeting, Al-Yahya said: "Israel has turned schools into battlefields and hospitals into landscapes of pain and powerlessness". Despite the efforts to bring an end to these attacks, Israel continues to cut lives short without any distinction, he noted. He went to say that the Israeli authorities are committing war crimes, crimes against humanity and ethnic cleansing. Calling for unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance across Gaza, Kuwait's top diplomat underlined the essential role of UNRWA in supporting the Palestinian peop le in their darkest hour. Al-Yahya further warned against double standards and expressed support for all initiatives to reach a just and lasting solution to the Palestinian question. He highlighted Israeli's continued criminal practices and violations of international law, referring to its unilateral decisions aiming to change the current legal and historic status of the occupied territories amid the failure of the UN Security Council to assume its responsibilities. Al-Yahya renewed Kuwait's firm solidarity with the brotherly Palestinian people who have been struggling to obtain their legitimate rights, topped with establishing their independent state based on June 4 1967, achieving a comprehensive and fair peace, in line with the relevant international resolutions and references, to reach a fair and lasting solution to the Palestinian cause. This will lead to achieving security, stability and development in the region, Al-Yahya concluded. Source: Kuwait News Agency