<\/p>\n
26 November 2024<\/p>\n
Solidarity Day Observance (AM)<\/strong><\/p>\n This year\u2019s commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is especially painful, as the fundamental goals of their dignity, rights, justice and self-determination are as distant as they have ever been, the Secretary-General said today in a statement read out at a special meeting in observance of the Day.<\/p>\n Speaking on behalf of the Secretary-General, his Deputy Amina Mohammed<\/strong> said, \u201cNothing justifies the 7 October terror attacks by Hamas and the taking of hostages, and nothing justifies the collective punishment of the Palestinian people\u201d.\u00a0 The humanitarian crisis in Gaza, which is worsening by the day, is appalling and inexcusable.\u00a0 \u201cAs a matter of urgency, I appeal for full support of lifesaving humanitarian relief for the Palestinian people \u2013 in particular through the work of UNRWA (UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East), which is an irreplaceable lifeline for millions of Palestinians,\u201d she stressed.<\/p>\n In the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, she said Israeli military operations, settlement expansion, evictions, demolitions, settler violence and threats of annexation are inflicting further pain and injustice.\u00a0 She called for an immediate ceasefire, the unconditional release of all hostages, an end to the unlawful occupation of the Palestinian Territory and irreversible progress towards a two-State solution.<\/p>\n Likewise, the Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, Cheikh Niang (Senegal<\/u>)<\/strong>, said that this year’s commemoration occurs amid unprecedented suffering and tragedy.\u00a0 He noted that, in the past 400 days, Israel\u2019s military action on the Gaza Strip has killed more than 44,000 Palestinians, 70 per cent of whom are women and children.\u00a0More than 104,000 have been injured and thousands more are still missing.\u00a0 \u201cThe entire Palestinian civilian population in Gaza is enduring a humanitarian catastrophe of a level unseen since the Second World War\u201d.<\/p>\n Gaza has been made \u201cuninhabitable by design,\u201d he said.\u00a0 The basic necessities of life have been weaponized by Israel, including starvation as a method of war.\u00a0 Numerous scholars, independent experts and human rights organizations recognize this grave situation as genocide.\u00a0 The failure of the international system, particularly the Security Council, to act decisively in the face of such grave breaches of international law \u201chas severely compounded this conflict and deepened the suffering of the Palestinian people,\u201d he said, adding that \u201cto continue to deny these rights to the Palestinian people is to betray the principles of humanity and justice we claim to uphold\u201d.<\/p>\n He said the path forward is clear:\u00a0 prevent annexation and end the illegal occupation; halt all violence – in Gaza and the West Bank, and East Jerusalem; and, uphold international law with accountability.\u00a0 Humanitarian lifelines like UNRWA must be protected and Gaza\u2019s reconstruction prioritized under Palestinian leadership.\u00a0 \u201cThe time for action is now [\u2026] history will judge us not by our words but by our actions,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Echoing similar concerns, General Assembly President Philemon Yang (Cameroon<\/u>)<\/strong> said that the Israeli-Palestinian issue cannot be resolved through force, occupation or annexation.\u00a0 He urged both parties to live side-by-side in their own sovereign States, adding that it is unjust that Palestine is not yet a UN Member State.\u00a0\u201cThe aspiration of the Palestinian people to have their own State is just aspiration,\u201d he said, calling for a restoration of hope and trust among them, and a lasting resolution of the conflict.\u00a0Only the establishment of the Palestinian State can guarantee peace and security.<\/p>\n For her part, Security Council President for the month, Barbara Woodward (United Kingdom)<\/strong>, said the 15-member body remains fully committed to pursuing a comprehensive, just and lasting peace in the Middle East, in line with international law.\u00a0 She said the international community needs to redouble efforts to support a ceasefire and the release of all hostages, and promote urgent action to address the catastrophic humanitarian crisis and chart an irreversible path towards the realization of the two-State solution.<\/p>\n She underscored that, since last November, the Council has remained seized of the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.\u00a0 It has adopted four resolutions and several press statements in response to this crisis, including on a cessation of hostilities and the effective distribution of humanitarian aid.\u00a0 It has also rejected any attempt at demographic or territorial change in the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 The Council has recognized the essential role that UNRWA plays and strongly warned against any attempts to dismantle or diminish its operations and mandate.<\/p>\n Asserting the need for global action was Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine on behalf of Palestine\u2019s President, Mahmoud Abbas<\/strong>.\u00a0 He urged international intervention to stop this tragedy occurring before the eyes and ears of the world.\u00a0 The illegal occupation is causing regional insecurity and instability and must be removed.\u00a0Over the past 76 years, treating the occupying Power as above international law and providing it with impunity for its crimes, even with financial and military support, has emboldened it to defy international legitimacy and to persist in its aggression.\u00a0It has even formally announced its readiness to implement the racial annexation and settlement expansion schemes.<\/p>\n He added that the occupying Power\u2019s actions have caused significant harm to the credibility of the multilateral system, which is based on international law.\u00a0 The system has been shaken by the inability to stop the aggression, despite images of massacred children that have shocked humanity.\u00a0 He spotlighted the latest biased use of the veto in the Council to prevent a comprehensive and permanent ceasefire.\u00a0 How long will the world be unable to deter the occupying Power from its crimes, hold it accountable, and compel it to abide by international law, like the rest of the countries of the world?\u201d He proposed \u201cpractical steps\u201d to deter the occupation, including suspending Israel\u2019s membership at the United Nations.<\/p>\n The representative of the League of Arab States, on behalf of its Secretary-General Ahmed Aboul Gheit<\/strong>, commended the move of the International Criminal Court to issue arrest warrants against the leaders of the occupation, due to their war crimes and crimes against humanity.\u00a0 It is an important step towards achieving accountability and justice, the two basic pillars of sustainable peace, she added.\u00a0It is clear that the aim of the Israeli \u201cright-wing gang\u201d is to end the Palestinian presence in its homeland, to liquidate the Palestinian State project and to realize the dreams of forced displacement, by making Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, unlivable and unbearable for Palestinians.<\/p>\n She said that silence in the face of this historic crime amounts to complicity. Gaza is undergoing ethnic cleansing and a genocidal war to extend the hateful apartheid system from the river to the sea.\u00a0 There will be no regional peace or stability without an independent Palestinian State on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.<\/p>\n The representative of the Organization of Islamic States, reading a statement from its Secretary-General, Hissein Brahim Taha<\/strong>, said a credible and definitive solution to this crisis requires a paradigm shift on the part of the international community.\u00a0 There is a need to transform its political will into practical and effective measures.\u00a0 She underscored that, in Gaza, military aggression, genocide, starvation, siege, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, indiscriminate destruction and terrorism, perpetrated by the Israeli occupation forces, continue to cause widespread suffering, dire humanitarian disaster and instability.<\/p>\n Likewise, the representative of the African Union Commission<\/strong> said the war in Gaza is unjustifiable and is contributing to a devastating humanitarian situation, which is a war crime and a crime against humanity.\u00a0 The city of East Jerusalem and its holy sites are in more danger than ever. Christians and Muslims are fundamentally deprived of practicing their faith and beliefs.\u00a0 He called for an immediate ceasefire and the release of the Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails and detention centres, and of the Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip.\u00a0 He underscored that the African Union has consistently expressed deep concern at the consequences of unilateral policies and actions, including the ongoing war on Gaza.<\/p>\n The representative of Uganda, speaking on behalf of 121 countries of the Non-Aligned Movement<\/strong>, said the Movement condemns all forms of violence, particularly the Israeli military attacks and Israeli collective punishment against Palestinian people, as a grave breach of international humanitarian law.\u00a0Like previous speakers, it demands an immediate ceasefire, as well as the release of hostages and Palestinian prisoners.<\/p>\n Towards the end of the meeting, Tanya Haj-Hassan, a pediatric intensive care doctor who has worked in Gaza for the past 14 months, speaking on behalf of civil society<\/strong>, said that doctors there have treated people subjected to civilian massacre, at the few remaining, partially functioning, hospitals in Gaza.\u00a0 \u201cEntire families have been eliminated, wiped off the civil registry,\u201d she said, adding that her health care and humanitarian colleagues also are being killed in record numbers.<\/p>\n \u201cWe have treated countless children who lost their entire families, a phenomenon so frequent in Gaza that they have been given a specific name:\u00a0Wounded Child – No Surviving Family,\u201d she emphasized.\u00a0 Those who recovered enough to leave the hospitals continue to face the obvious risk of death, be it through another bombing, starvation, dehydration or disease.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 26 November 2024 Solidarity Day Observance (AM) This year\u2019s commemoration of the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People is especially painful, as the fundamental goals of their dignity, rights, justice and self-determination are as distant as they have ever been, the Secretary-General said today in a statement read out at a special 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