The United Nations Security Council reconvened for an emergency meeting to address the situation between Israel and Palestine on Friday.

Leading up to the emergency meeting, Israeli defense forces bombed Palestinian areas and invaded Gaza, while rockets reportedly from Hamas shelled Israel.

Ambassador Riyad Mansour of Palestine, a UN observer state, was the first to address the Security Council, saying, "With every moment that passes, the life of another Palestinian child or mother or father is cruelly taken by the Israeli occupying forces in their murderous rampage of airstrikes and artillery bombardment against civilian areas, and now a massive ground invasion in the Gaza Strip, threatening the safety and survival of the entire Palestinian civilian population."

According to Mansour, Israel has "intensified" its military operations against Palestine. He claimed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has "continuously engaged" in comprehensive cease-fire talks with efforts from countries such as Egypt and Turkey. The Palestinian ambassador said Israel is not acting in self-defense but with planned "vengeful military aggression."

Mansour alleged that Israel is using the military aggression due to the deaths of three Israeli settlers on Palestinian land. Mansour said there has not been an independent or transparent investigation into their deaths, yet Israeli is using the boys' deaths to attack Palestine.

"Before the eyes of the world, Israel is waging a war against a defenseless civilian population, trampling human rights, committing grave breaches of international humanitarian law, and destroying the pillars of the international system as it forces a repugnant double-standard upon the international community with its cynical pretexts, including destroying the credibility of the Security Council, which continues to stand aside Israel flagrantly violates its resolutions without consequences," Mansour asserted.

Mansour said the death toll in Palestine is more than 274, while over 2,065 people have been injured. He said the "overwhelmingly majority" of the deaths and injured are civilians. Mansour also announced the names and ages of Palestinians that have died during the crisis.

"This reality is worsened by the repeated appeasement of Israel and the failure of the international community to hold it accountable and to impose the rule of law," said Mansour, who asked the Security Council to uphold its charter, adopt a resolution condemning the Israeli military's actions and lift Israel's blockade of the Gaza Strip.

Israel spoke next. Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor said his country was "left with no choice."

"In the face of terrorists kidnapping our children, we were left with no choice. In the face of rockets raining down on our citizens, we were left with no choice. In the face of jihadists tunneling under our borders, we were left with no choice," Prosor said.

The Israeli ambassador reaffirmed that the Israel Defense Forces entered Gaza to "restore a sustained quiet" to citizens of Israel while eradicating Hamas' terror abilities. He added that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made the "courageous decision" to accept calls for a cease-fire, but Hamas rejected it.

Prosor added, "This wasn't what we wanted. We have sent our children -- our sons and our daughters -- to face an enemy who lives by violence and celebrates death. I want to be clear -- our forces are fighting in Gaza, but they are not fighting the people of Gaza."

According to Prosor, rockets have attacked Israel from Lebanon, Sinai, Syria and Gaza. Despite the attacks, Prosor said Israel has shown "restraint," highlighting its six-hour cease-fire on Tuesday. The Israeli ambassador noted that during the cease-fire, Hamas launched 50 rockets into Israel. Prosor also noted the UN's request for a humanitarian truce, with which Israel would comply. Hamas continued to launch rockets.

"For 10 days, life for 5 million Israelis has meant having just seconds to run for a bomb shelter and save their lives. Our largest cities -- Tel Aviv, Haifa and Jerusalem -- are being bombarded on a daily basis," Prosor said. "There is no country in the world that would tolerate such an assault on its citizens -- and Israel should not be expected to either. We are acting solely to defend Israelis from constant terror attacks."

The ambassador said Israel is upholding international law and that Israelis "genuinely regret" the civilian lives lost. He added that Hamas doesn't share the sentiment.

"There is a clear difference between Israel and Hamas -- the Jewish people believe in the value of life, while Hamas believes in the value of taking lives. How many more Palestinians must fall victim before President Abbas finally breaks his partnership with Hamas? Abbas is the president of the unity government that includes a murderous terror group. What exactly is this government united for? Obviously not for peace," Prosor said.

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