UN General Assembly
2014

have cast a shadow on the future that had seemed to hold out the promise of a negotiated settlement. Unprecedented impunity and the disproportionate use of force by the parties involved call into question our very claim to be a civilization. Turning United Nations shelters into combat zones and killing the innocent children, men and women who take refuge in them is a shameful act that must be condemned in the strongest terms possible. Lesotho endorses the recent Human Rights Council resolution S-21/1, demanding that the massacres of innocent Palestinian civilians be investigated by an independent commission and that those responsible be held accountable. Let us not forget that in 2005 we unanimously adopted the principle of the responsibility to protect (see resolution 60/1, paragraphs 138-140) in order to safeguard innocent civilians from war crimes, genocide, mass atrocities and ethnic cleansing. Indeed, the Security Council has reaffirmed that principle in several conflicts around the world and in some instances has authorized military intervention. Unfortunately, in the case of the slaughter of thousands of Palestinian civilians, the Council has