United Nations General Assembly President Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann has said the international community should consider using boycotts, divestments or sanctions to pressure Israel to improve its treatment of the Palestinians. The Nicaraguan diplomat compared the situation in Israel to South Africa two decades ago.

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann: “Although different, what is being done against the Palestinian people seems to me like a version of the hideous policy of apartheid. That cannot, should not be allowed to continue.”

Miguel d’Escoto Brockmann’s comments came during a special meeting in observance of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon also criticized Israel for its blockade of Gaza.

Ban Ki-moon: “I call for immediate measures to ease the near-blanket closure of Gaza, which leads to worrying deprivations of basic supplies and human dignity, and I unreservedly condemn the rocket fire. The way forward is for all the parties to respect the calm brokered by Egypt and to reach out to the civilian population of the Gaza Strip instead of wrongly punishing them.”