Algeria's envoy to the UN broke down while reading a farewell letter from Mariam Abu Dagga, an Associated Press journalist killed in an Israeli strike on Nasser Hospital in Gaza this week.
Abu Dagga, 33, was among five journalists killed in what was a "double tap" strike on the hospital in Khan Younis, Gaza.
Days before her death, she wrote to her 13-year-old son on social media, leaving behind words that Algeria's ambassador Amar Bendjama said "carried more truth than any official statement."
"You are the heart and soul of your mother... when I die, pray for me, not cry for me. And when you grow, when you marry, and when you have a daughter, name her Mariam, after me," Abu Dagga wrote in her letter, as read aloud in the chamber.
Struggling to hold back tears, Mr Bendjama told the Security Council that Abu Dagga's only protection was her press vest and her only weapon, a camera. He accused Israel of deliberately targeting Palestinian journalists to silence coverage from Gaza.
"Two hundred and forty-five journalists have lost their lives. In late August, the Israeli Defence Forces deliberately killed six more. They are carrying nothing but word, but the image, and there is nothing but their voices," he said.
"This very Security Council did nothing after this crime," he charged.
The ambassador also called on the case of Yazan Abu Foul, a two-year-old boy shown in footage, emaciated and shirtless in his father's arms.
Holding up the image, Mr Bendjama asked Council members, "Do you have children? Do you have grown children? Imagine being Yazan's parent, watching the candle of his life drop while powerless to help. This is the grim reality."
"He is still alive. He stands shirtless in the hand of his father," he spoke.
Mr Bendjama described Gaza as a "living hell," where famine has already been confirmed by independent international bodies. He accused the Security Council of becoming "a theatre of lamentation" and urged immediate action. Impose a ceasefire, ensure large-scale humanitarian aid, and stop the "genocide," he said.
"This council must act as a matter of duty, a moral duty, a legal duty, must act to impose a ceasefire and protect and save innocent lives, must act to ensure humanitarian access at scale, must act to feed the starving," he said.
"To fail is to be complicit. To delay is to accept shame. To stop a genocide is not an option - it is an obligation," he declared.
The UN session coincided with fresh Israeli raids in the occupied West Bank city of Nablus.
Israel's war on Gaza is now nearing two years, with the health ministry reporting over 63,000 Palestinians killed. Aid groups warn that Israel's blockade on food, medicine, and essentials since March has pushed Gaza into a "man-made" famine. More than 300 Palestinians have died from starvation and malnutrition in recent months.
