{"id":302971,"date":"2024-10-30T16:46:43","date_gmt":"2024-10-30T20:46:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/?post_type=document&p=302971"},"modified":"2024-11-01T10:38:41","modified_gmt":"2024-11-01T14:38:41","slug":"ceirpp-chairs-statement-security-council-29oct2024","status":"publish","type":"document","link":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/document\/ceirpp-chairs-statement-security-council-29oct2024\/","title":{"rendered":"“This is not an \u201cevacuation\u201d but forced displacement and ethnic cleansing” says UN Palestinian Rights Committee Chair at the Security Council Quarterly Debate on the Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question \u2013 30 October 2024"},"content":{"rendered":"

 <\/p>\n

\"\"STATEMENT TO THE SECURITY COUNCIL<\/strong><\/p>\n

BY MR. CHEIKH NIANG, <\/strong>CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF<\/strong><\/p>\n

THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE<\/strong><\/p>\n

OPEN DEBATE <\/strong>ON THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST, <\/strong>INCLUDING THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION<\/strong><\/p>\n

New York, 30 October 2024<\/p>\n

Mr. President,<\/p>\n

Distinguished Council members,<\/p>\n

Ladies and gentlemen,<\/p>\n

I congratulate Switzerland for the October presidency of the Security Council and thank His Excellency, Minister Ignazio Cassis, for presiding over this meeting.<\/p>\n

I also thank the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland for his briefing and tireless advocacy for peace and justice, including a just solution to the question of Palestine.<\/p>\n

Distinguished Members of the Council,<\/p>\n

Today, I bring three critical messages<\/strong> from the United Nations Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, addressing the profound urgency to reach a ceasefire in Gaza, the escalating threat to the United Nations operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and the imperative for implementation of the significant General Assembly resolution regarding the ICJ Advisory Opinion.<\/p>\n

For more than a year we have witnessed unimaginable destruction and civilian casualties and gross violations of international law, including humanitarian and human rights law, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. Hopes for an immediate and lasting ceasefire have all but vanished, in spite of the calls of this Security Council, the General Assembly and the international community at large<\/strong>. The assault by Israel, the occupying Power, on the Gaza Strip has reached unprecedented levels, with northern Gaza now facing near-total devastation. An estimated 400,000 Palestinians are being forcibly displaced before our eyes. This is not an \u201cevacuation\u201d but forced displacement and ethnic cleansing \u2013 civilians are being forced to leave their homes and shelters under bombs and gunfire and starved with little or no aid.<\/p>\n

Most alarming is the Security Council’s passive tolerance of the killing and maiming of civilian and wanton destruction of civilian property, repeatedly and wrongly justified by Israel and other members as \u201cself-defense\u201d, and the fading hopes for progress in interminably sabotaged negotiations for a ceasefire. The critical urgency to enforce a ceasefire has been completely lost, eclipsed by the relentless violence by Israel\u2019s occupying forces and a soaring Palestinian civilian death toll. Instead, the bloodshed continues unabated, marking a profound failure of our collective humanity and the Council\u2019s fundamental Charter duty.<\/p>\n