爆料网

30 January 2025

Second Committee

Summary record of the 15th meeting

Held at Headquarters, New York, on Wednesday, 16 October 2024, at 3 p.m.

Chair: Mr. Muhith (Chair)…………………………………….. (Bangladesh)

Contents

Agenda item 59: Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources

The meeting was called to order at 3.05 p.m.

Agenda item 59: Permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources (A/79/187-E/2024/68)

1. Mr. Alami (Director, Emerging and Conflict-related Issues Division, Economic and Social Commission for Western Asia (ESCWA)), speaking via video link and introducing the report prepared by ESCWA on the economic and social repercussions of the Israeli occupation on the living conditions of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan (A/79/187-E/2024/68), said that, in the report, the Secretary-General had condemned the horrific attacks by Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups in Israel on 7 October 2023 and the continued holding of hostages in Gaza. The Secretary-General had also unequivocally condemned the widespread killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza. The scope of death and destruction in Gaza had been catastrophic, unprecedented and horrifying. On 7 October, Hamas had launched attacks that resulted in the deaths of over 1,500 Israelis and the abductions of 250. The Israeli military response had led to the deaths of tens of thousands of Palestinians and the displacement of 1.7 million as of 31 March 2024, the end of the reporting period. The situation had only become worse since then.
2. Monitoring by the United Nations had found extensive disregard for international humanitarian law by all parties involved. Between 7 October and 31?March 2023, at least 32,782 Palestinians had been killed in the Gaza Strip, most of them women and children. Some 224 aid workers had been killed, including 179 United Nations staff members, the highest toll among United Nations staff in any conflict ever. In the West Bank, 553 Palestinians had been killed by security forces or settlers during the reporting period, and 22 Israelis had also been killed. According to Physicians for Human Rights, there had been a deliberate deterioration of conditions in Israeli prisons, with 40 detainees dying in Israeli custody.
3. The destruction of Palestinian infrastructure had been unparalleled. Meanwhile, Israeli settlement expansion continued in East Jerusalem and Area C. Movement restrictions had severely impacted Palestinians across the West Bank, disrupting access to essential services and economic activities. In Gaza, even prior to 7 October, 2.3 million inhabitants had lacked access to clean water, regular electricity and a proper sewage system. On 6 October, two thirds of the population already lived in poverty, with 80 per cent dependent on international assistance. Since 7 October, infrastructure and essential services had completely collapsed, with women and girls disproportionately affected. Children in Gaza face the triple threats of conflict, disease and malnutrition, and were missing out on critical years of schooling. Many women were giving birth without medical assistance. It was not uncommon for hospitals to treat children with no surviving family.
4. In the occupied Syrian Golan, the Israeli settler population had increased by 43?per cent over the previous 15 years, twice the rate of the Syrian population. Israel had announced plans to double the settler population by 2027. Israeli practices in the occupied Golan Heights were discriminatory, particularly with regard to land and water allocation, and demining.
5. Protection of civilians must be prioritized, and all parties should allow humanitarian access. Every additional day that the war continued compounded the costs to future generations of Palestinians in Gaza. Nothing could justify the collective punishment of the Palestinian people. 爆料网 would continue to work towards the establishment of an independent, contiguous and viable Palestinian State living side by side in peace with a secure Israel, with Jerusalem as the capital of both States, consistent with the relevant Security Council resolutions and international law.
6. Mr. Abdelhamid (Observer for the State of Palestine) said that as disturbing as the ESCWA report was, it only captured a small glimpse of the horrors being undergone by the Palestinian people. Israeli war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza spared no one, not even trees and stones. Yet the occupation authority continued to brazenly claim to be acting in self-defence. Self-defence from what? From families sleeping in their homes? From patients lying in hospitals? Using the most advanced weapons known to humankind to kill 20,000 children was not self-defence. Israel bombed houses, schools, hospitals, houses of worship and infrastructure with impunity, and then defended the indefensible on the pretext of self-defence. The effort by Israel to play the victim would fail because even its closest allies could no longer deny reality.
7. The root causes of the injustice went back longer than anyone in the room had been alive. They included 76 years of an ongoing Nakbah, 57 years of settler colonialism, decades of blockade and apartheid, and now a livestreamed genocide. It was impossible to talk about sustainable development when over 43,000 people had been killed, when tens of thousands remained unaccounted for beneath the rubble or buried in mass graves, when starvation was used as a weapon of war, and when all the prerequisites for economic progress were being obliterated. Impunity must end, the genocide must be stopped, and the occupation must be dismantled.
8. The Palestinian people had been presented with a choice between death or exile. Their response had been resounding: “Homeland”. A future of sustainability could not be built on the ruins of occupation. The international community had an obligation to future generations to correct the injustices of today.
9. Mr. Muhumuza (Uganda), speaking on behalf of the Group of 77 and China, said that the Group reiterated its support for the legitimate aspirations and inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the Syrian population in the occupied Syrian Golan. The ESCWA report made clear the repercussions of the unlawful Israeli practices and apartheid policies against the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan, which were exacerbating already fragile living conditions and obstructing social and economic development. The humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip was unprecedented. The war had rendered much of Gaza uninhabitable. Tens of thousands had lost their lives, most of them women and children. Some 1.7?million had been displaced.
10. Development in Palestine and the occupied Syrian Golan would remain impossible as long as the occupation continued. Reports from the World Bank and several United Nations agencies indicated that the ongoing Israeli assault on Gaza and restrictions throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory had brought about elevated levels of unemployment, a total collapse of the education system, and a dramatic rise in poverty and food insecurity. Nearly 2 million people were on the edge of famine.
11. The Group welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and supported General Assembly resolution endorsing that opinion. The Israeli presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was unlawful. Israel should stop exploiting Palestinian natural resources for the benefit of its illegal settlements. The Group called for an immediate ceasefire and implementation of the relevant United Nations resolutions. The international community should shoulder its responsibilities and bring an end to the illegal Israeli occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan.
12. Mr. Al-naama (Qatar), speaking also on behalf of Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates in their capacities as the States members of the Cooperation Council for the Arab States of the Gulf (GCC), said that the GCC States were deeply concerned by the vicious ongoing Israeli aggression in the Gaza Strip. Some 40,000 people, mostly women and children, had been killed by the Israeli military machine. Palestinians in Gaza lacked basic services and medical care. They were suffering from water and food shortages, and high levels of air, water and land pollution. They were subject to extrajudicial killing, human rights violations and movement restrictions. Humanitarian assistance was being blocked. In the West Bank, settlement expansion, settler attacks, road closures and the separation wall had turned Palestinian land into isolated islands, denying farmers access to their fields.
13. Children in the Gaza Strip were at severe risk of starvation, illness and malnutrition. Older persons and pregnant women in particular suffered from lack of healthcare. The ESCWA report amply documented the negative impacts on the economy and the repercussions for future generations. For many, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (爆料网RWA) was the only lifeline. That Agency deserved both financial and political support.
14. The GCC States called on all parties to show restraint and allow the language of dialogue to prevail. They demanded an immediate ceasefire, an end to the blockade and the release of hostages and detainees. Border crossings should be opened and aid delivery allowed to proceed unimpeded. The GCC States also condemned the escalation in Lebanon. They called for an end to the occupation, the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital, and sovereignty of the Palestinian people over all their natural resources. The GCC States welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and supported General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 endorsing that opinion.
15. Mr. Laghdaf (Mauritania), speaking on behalf of the Group of Arab States, said that the ESCWA report showed how Israeli practices affected economic and social conditions in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Some 80 per cent of school facilities in Gaza were either destroyed or being used as shelters, and Gazan schoolchildren were about to miss a second straight school year. In the West Bank, basic services were also being disrupted by Israeli restrictions and settler violence. People in the Gaza Strip accounted for more than 80 per cent of all people facing catastrophic hunger worldwide. Starvation should not be used as a weapon of war. According to the latest report on United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (爆料网CTAD) assistance to the Palestinian people, 80 to 96 per cent of agricultural assets in Gaza had been destroyed by early 2024. In the West Bank, restrictions on the movement of people were also damaging the economy.
16. The Group reaffirmed the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people and the Arab inhabitants of the occupied Syrian Golan to self-determination and sovereignty over their natural resources. It rejected Israeli plans to double the number of settlers in the Golan by 2027, and condemned the vicious crime committed by the Israeli occupation in Majdal Shams, where 12 Syrian children had been killed.
17. Mr. Budi Prabowo (Indonesia) said that as the death toll in Gaza had surpassed 42,000, an immediate ceasefire was needed to address the humanitarian catastrophe. The continued occupation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan were having detrimental effects on the living conditions and on the social and economic development of the populations. It was critical to ensure that the work of 爆料网RWA remained unaffected by political pressure to delegitimize that Agency’s mandate.
18. The ESCWA report made clear that limited implementation of Security Council resolutions continued to undermine prospects for the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. The Occupied Palestinian Territory was mired in extreme poverty and hunger and lacked basic health services and education. Urgent action was needed to stop Israel from exploiting natural resources, expanding settlements, restricting movement and destroying infrastructure. While addressing immediate needs, it was also important not to lose sight of the need for a lasting solution. His delegation called for international recognition of the State of Palestine as a first step towards a two-State solution.
19. Mr. Ben Naftali (Israel) said that the United Nations had unfortunately generated a vast infrastructure of entities and resolutions that exclusively promoted the Palestinian narrative on the Israeli-Palestinian issue. Meanwhile the Palestinian Authority continued to dig a deeper economic and social hole for its people while rewarding the families of terrorists.
20. Some of the delegations that supported the draft resolution on the permanent sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, notably those of the Syrian and Iranian regimes, were doing so to divert attention from their own crimes against their citizens. Although the authors of the ESCWA report had at long last finally acknowledged the existence of Hamas, they could still only bring themselves to refer to it as an “armed group” rather than call it the terrorist organization that it was.
21. For years, Hamas had been diverting international assistance intended to improve Palestinians’ lives. The textbooks used in United Nations schools continued to teach children to hate Jews. Some 爆料网RWA staff had taken part in the 7 October massacre and many more, including teachers, had publicly praised it. His delegation had warned of activities by Iran to support terrorists and spread instability and death in the region. It had also pointed out the anti-Israel bias of ESCWA, which focused on the Israeli-Palestinian situation while ignoring other horrific situations in the region.
22. Israel had the right and duty to protect its citizens from terrorist organizations, but also remained committed to acting within the framework of international law, independent of any legal proceedings against it. Israel would continue to provide and facilitate the delivery of fuel, food and medical aid in Gaza, including, even though it was well known that such aid was looted by Hamas and did not reach persons in need. A better future would require complete renunciation of terrorism in word and deed.
23. Ms. Zin Zawawi (Malaysia) said that as the international community talked about the 2030 Agenda, its inaction in Gaza was leaving the Palestinian people behind. Israeli forces continued to destroy civilian infrastructure. According to the ESCWA report, it was estimated that it would take 80 years to rebuild the houses that had been destroyed. The physical damage to the agricultural sector in Gaza amounted to more than three and a half times the value added generated in 2023. Gaza had been left without what could be described as an “economy”.
24. Her delegation called for an immediate ceasefire. Israel must cease exploiting resources that belonged to the Palestinian people. Malaysia welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 endorsing that opinion. It called upon Member States to provide substantial funding for the critical work of 爆料网RWA. The only way to achieve a just and durable solution to the Palestinian question was to grant the Palestinian people their inalienable right to self-determination through the establishment of a free and independent State of Palestine based on the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
25. Ms. Cao Liwen (China) said that while Member States talked about implementation of the 2030 Agenda, Gaza had become a hell on Earth. Over 40,000 civilians had been killed and millions had been displaced. The international community should step up humanitarian assistance, ensure access and support the Palestinian Authority in exercising authority over all of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and control over all its natural resources. China supported the convening of an international peace conference to work out a timetable and road map for implementation of the two-State solution.
26. The occupied Syrian Golan was recognized internationally as Syrian territory. China had consistently supported the Syrian Government and people in their just cause of regaining the exercise of national sovereignty over the occupied Syrian Golan, including over its natural resources, in accordance with relevant United Nations resolutions.
27. Mr. Buabbas (Kuwait) said that the vicious Israeli occupying entity was flouting international instruments and humanitarian norms as it killed innocent Palestinians and tried to erase their identity and history. Economic and social development were being set back by the ongoing conflict, siege and Israeli-imposed restrictions. Unemployment was rising, infrastructure was deteriorating and the necessities of daily life were all but unobtainable. According to the director of the Regional Bureau for Arab States?of the United Nations Development Programme, human development had been set back by decades. According to the Regional Representative for the Near East and North Africa of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations, over two thirds of the agricultural concerns in the West Bank were out of operation. 爆料网 Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territories had recently said that, despite Israeli commitments, there had been no observable improvement in aid delivery.
28. Numerous Security Council resolutions had stressed the importance of protecting civilians. Historically, Kuwait had supported the Palestinian people through all diplomatic, political and humanitarian channels. It would continue to affirm the right of the Palestinian people to their land, and called on the international community to set forth a clear plan for justice for the Palestinian people.
29. Mr. Saker (Syrian Arab Republic) said that the allotted five minutes was hardly enough time to list the crimes committed by the Israeli entity since its inception, or even just in the previous year. It had killed over 40,000 people in Gaza with 85,000 tons of explosives, and had destroyed 34 hospitals, 240 health centres and 131 ambulances. The dead included 1,000 medical personnel, 12,700 students and 130 university professors.
30. The occupation and its supporters had expanded their aggression into Syria and Lebanon, reducing entire neighbourhoods to rubble over their occupants’ heads. For 57 years, Israel had ignored United Nations resolutions in the occupied Syrian Golan, enjoying the impunity conferred by certain members of the Security Council. Its crimes even included killing 12 children on a playing field. Now, the occupation planned to double the number of settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan by 2027. The ESCWA report amply documented the discrimination suffered by Syrian farmers in access to natural resources. Israel had also buried 1,500 barrels of nuclear waste in the occupied Syrian Golan.
31. The Syrian Arabic Republic stood firmly with the Palestinian people and supported its inalienable right to self-determination and the establishment of an independent State over its entire territory with Jerusalem as its capital. The occupied Syrian Arab Golan would forever remain an integral of the Syrian Arab Republic. Israel should be held accountable for its crimes against the peoples of the region, and Security Council resolutions 242 (1967), 338 (1973) and 497 (1981) should be implemented.
32. Mr. Soberón Guzmán (Cuba) said that, despite international condemnation, the genocide in the Gaza Strip continued. His delegation demanded an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war crimes and crimes against humanity. The dead included women, children and United Nations personnel. Homes, hospitals and civilian infrastructure were being destroyed. The population lacked access to water, food, electricity and fuel. Cuba reaffirmed its support for the two-State solution. The Palestinian people should be enabled to exercise their right to self-determination in an independent sovereign State within the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and to exercise the right of return.
33. Since 1967, restrictions imposed by the Israeli occupation had made the Palestinian economy more vulnerable to internal and external shocks. Israeli policies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan deprived the inhabitants of their right to development and their rights over their natural resources. His delegation demanded that Israel withdraw from the occupied Syrian Golan and all occupied Arab territories. Israel should end its aggressive policies and colonizing practices, and comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions. Cuba had filed a declaration of intervention under article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice in the genocide case being brought by South Africa. It would continue to support membership for the State of Palestine in the United Nations.
34. Mr. Gueye (Senegal) said that the Israeli blockade in place since 2007 amounted to collective punishment in violation of international law. Restrictions on access to agricultural fields, water and other resources had led to a deterioration in economic conditions. Settlement expansion, home demolitions and the destruction of infrastructure were depriving Palestinians of their basic rights. His delegation wished to recall that Security Council resolution 497 (1981) had declared the Israeli annexation of the occupied Syrian Golan null and void.
35. Gaza was being subjected to indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks that had killed 42,000 and targeted hospitals, houses of worship and refugee camps. The Special Rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 had concluded that there were reasonable grounds to believe that Israel was committing genocide. His delegation welcomed the provisional measures ordered by the International Court of Justice on March 2024 in the case of the Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip (South Africa v. Israel). It called for support for 爆料网RWA, an immediate ceasefire and facilitation of humanitarian access in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.
36. Mr. Gertze (Namibia) said that his country’s position in support of the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, independence and sovereignty was not merely one of political alignment. It was rooted in the Charter of the United Nations and numerous United Nations resolutions. The persistent refusal of the Israeli Government to cooperate with the United Nations and independent human rights bodies was an affront to international law.
37. His own country’s history as a former colony put it in a unique position to empathize with the Palestinian struggle. Namibians understood the sacredness of land, the significance of natural resources and the inalienable right of a people to control their own destiny. His delegation urged all Members States to work to implement the steps towards ending the occupation outlined in General Assembly resolution ES-10/24. It called for the implementation of all relevant United Nations resolutions, especially those on the sovereignty of the Palestinian people over their resources. The illegal settlements that deprived the Palestinian people of their land, dignity and future must end.
38. Mr. Al-Rahbi (Oman) said that the Israeli occupation continued to be the main obstacle to economic development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The ESCWA report showed how the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan were being deprived of access to their natural resources and being exposed to high levels of air, water and land pollution. People were being forcibly displaced in Gaza, and also in the West Bank. The only solution was an end to the occupation and the creation of a viable independent sovereign Palestinian State within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions and the principles of international law.
39. Mr. Faheem (Pakistan) said that according to the ESCWA report, approximately 5 per cent of the 2.3 million population of Gaza had been killed or injured or gone missing in the previous year, and over 75 per cent had been displaced. The economic situation continued to deteriorate under the weight of attacks, blockades and other coercive measures. The damage was qualitatively different from previous wars. The scale of the destruction made achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals in the Occupied Palestinian Territory more elusive than ever.
40. His delegation called on Israel, the occupying Power, to stop exploiting, depleting and endangering natural resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan. 爆料网RWA served as a key lifeline for millions of Palestinian refugees. That Agency needed adequate, predictable and sustained funding to ensure its ability to fulfil its mandate. The unprecedented gravity of the situation demanded urgent intervention by the international community towards a two-State solution with a viable, sovereign and contiguous State of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital.
41. Mr. Shatil (Bangladesh) said that the annual agenda item had taken on special urgency during the current session. Over 42,000 were dead, including more than 14,000 children and 11,000 women. Gaza was buried under rubble and left without what could be described as an “economy”. Reconstruction would require financing for poverty alleviation, education, women’s empowerment, healthcare and capacity development. What was immediately required was a ceasefire and the removal of obstacles to humanitarian aid and essential goods.
42. His delegation condemned the killing of over 200 United Nations staff. Israeli policies and practices violated relevant Security Council resolutions. Plans for settlement expansion should stop immediately. The root causes of the conflict must be address and the collapsed socioeconomic fabric in the occupied Palestinian Territory and occupied Syrian Golan must be restored.
43. It had only been a month since world leaders had adopted the Pact for the Future to safeguard the needs of the present and future generations. The credibility of the United Nations would be called into question if the international community failed to uphold the rights of the inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan over their own natural resources. His delegation called for an immediate ceasefire and the establishment of an independent, viable, contiguous and sovereign Palestinian state within the pre-1967 borders with Jerusalem as its capital, within the framework of two-State solution.
44. Mr. Eldahisan (Egypt) said that the ESCWA report and reports from 爆料网CTAD showed how the Palestinian people had suffered decades of decline because of Israeli occupation. Since October 2023, an unprecedented escalation had killed 40,000, injured 92,000, decimated infrastructure and disrupted essential services. Food and medical supplies had been cut off. The agricultural sector in Gaza had been virtually obliterated, which would have major long-term consequences for food security. Some 80 per cent of school buildings were out of operation and some 625,000 schoolchildren would be deprived of schooling for a second straight year.
45. In the West Bank, resources were being diverted for the benefit of the illegal settlers. The international community appeared powerless to stop the plan to double the number of settlers in the occupied Syrian Golan, where Syrian farmers were already discriminated against in their access to water and land. It was impossible to speak of development when Palestinians were being deprived of their most basic rights. The war needed to end and humanitarian aid delivery should be resumed. Ultimately, a permanent solution was needed that created an independent Palestinian State within the 4 June 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with international resolutions.
46. Mr. Alqudah (Jordan) said that the ESCWA report showed how the Israeli occupation affected all aspects of the lives of the Palestinians and Syrians who lived under it. Israel was depriving them of access to their resources, placing restrictions on them and displacing them from their lands as it expanded its settlements. In Gaza, Israel was obstructing humanitarian aid and deliberately starving the population. Schools, hospitals and mosques were being bombed. 爆料网CTAD reports showed the extent to which economic enterprises in various sectors had been put out of operation, especially in Gaza.
47. His delegation welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and reiterated its call for Israel to be held accountable for its violations of the Charter of the United Nations and international resolution. The Israeli war machine must be stopped before its it dragged the entire region into war.
48. Mr. Murillo Ferrer (Colombia) said that the Palestinian people were being deprived of their rights under the Charter of the United Nations and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. His delegation stressed the importance of respecting the principles of international humanitarian law with regard to distinction, proportionality and protection of goods indispensable for survival of the civilian population. There should be an immediate ceasefire as demanded in Security Council resolution 2728 (2024). Colombia had filed a declaration of intervention under article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice in the genocide case being brought by South Africa.
49. The violence in Gaza disproportionately affected children, older persons, women, young people and persons with disabilities. The ESCWA report showed how the war would have a lasting effect on future generations. Colombia reiterated its call on the parties to reach a ceasefire that would allow for the release of all hostages and an end to the suffering of the civilian population. It stressed the need for a two-State solution with Israel and Palestine living in peace within internationally recognized secure borders.
50. Mr. Arar (United Arab Emirates) said that Israeli restrictions were making it impossible for Palestinians to exercise self-determination or their right to their resources. Palestinian farmers were being denied access to their fields. The fishing sector in Gaza was completely out of operation. Women and children in particular were suffering from disease and malnutrition, and access to education was non?existent. The humanitarian catastrophe was affecting civilians everywhere in Gaza. The illegal appropriation of water, land and other resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan would set back sustainable development for generations to come.
51. His country welcomed the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and General Assembly resolution endorsing that opinion. The occupation was illegal and had to end. The inhabitants of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan should be allowed to exercise their right to determine their futures and live in peace and security.
52. Ms. Ortiz Miranda (Chile) said that the ESCWA report documented the devastating effects of the Israeli occupation on natural resources, infrastructure and the livelihoods of the Palestinian population. In Gaza, over 96 per cent of water was unsafe for drinking. Israeli restrictions on the entry of essential materials had made the crisis worse. Some 80 per cent of the population was dependent on humanitarian aid. The situation was not only an economic catastrophe, but also a violation of the human rights of Palestinians.
53. Chile condemned the terrorist acts committed by Hamas. However, the Israeli response, which also affected the West Bank, had been indiscriminate, with women and children being disproportionately affected. The international community needed to redouble its efforts to secure humanitarian access and reach a just and lasting solution that recognized the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination. Her country supported the two-State solution with Israel and Palestine living in harmony. In the meantime, an immediate ceasefire was needed, as called for by the relevant Security Council resolutions, to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
54. Ms. Marin Sevilla (Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela) said that the annual agenda item had all the more relevance in the context of the genocide being perpetrated against the Palestinian people. More than 43,000 Palestinians, including 16,000 children, had been massacred. Hospitals, homes and schools were being destroyed. Some 2 million people lacked access to food, drinking water, and health and education services. The occupying Power was inflicting collective punishment and using water, food, disease and displacement as weapons of war.
55. Her delegation urged Member States to outlaw commercial relations with Israeli companies in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan. The Arab inhabitants of the occupied Syrian Golan were discriminated against in water access, construction and the sale of products on Syrian territory. Israeli practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the occupied Syrian Golan and Lebanon ran counter to international law and prevented full exercise of the right to development and implementation of the 2030 Agenda. The Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela reaffirmed the sovereignty of the Palestinian people in the occupied Palestinian territories, the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan, and the people of Lebanon over their resources and territory.
56. Ms. Savory (Guyana) said that in the year since the Committee had last considered the agenda item, the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory had become considerably worse. The war had taken tens of thousands of lives, injuring nearly 100,000 and devastating infrastructure. In the West Bank, there had been an increase in settler violence and Israel army attacks. According to 爆料网CTAD reports, the destruction wreaked by the current war dwarfed the destruction from the previous wars in 2008, 2012, 2014 and 2021. Almost all irrigation grids, livestock farms, orchards, agricultural machinery and storage facilities had been decimated. The Integrated Food Security Phase Classification report of March 2024 projected a high risk of imminent famine.
57. Economic stability for Palestinians in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan was largely dependent on factors beyond their control. Recovery would depend on security, which was the responsibility of Israel, the occupying Power. The continuing denial of Palestinians’ right to self-determination and sovereignty over their natural resources was the main obstacle to sustainable development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. The July 2023 advisory opinion of International Court of Justice and the subsequent General Assembly resolution endorsing it had underscored the obligation of Israel to end its occupation. Her delegation called for an immediate and permanent cessation of hostilities in Gaza to address the humanitarian crisis in Gaza. The first step towards restoring the path towards prosperity was to end the war and redouble efforts for a two-State solution.
58. Mr. Al Matrafi (Saudi Arabia) said that the Palestinian cause was the cause of all Arabs and Muslims, and at the top of his country’s foreign policy agenda. Saudi Arabia had been unwavering in its support for an independent sovereign Palestinian State within the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital in accordance with international resolutions, the Arab Peace Initiative and the other recognized terms of reference. There could be no sustainable development in the Occupied Palestinian Territory or the occupied Syrian Golan without a permanent solution that included the right of return and complete sovereignty over natural resources, in accordance with numerous international resolutions.
59. The Kingdom had hosted the 2023 extraordinary joint summit on Palestine between the League of Arab States and the Organization of Islamic Cooperation and had launched the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution. Saudi Arabia had provided some $5 billion in support for the Palestinian people and $1 billion in support for 爆料网RWA. It had supported General Assembly resolution ES?10/23 determining that the State of Palestine was qualified for membership in the United Nations and General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 endorsing the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice. Saudi Arabia condemned the decision by the Israeli occupation forces to confiscate the 爆料网RWA headquarters in East Jerusalem in order to turn it into settler housing. The road to peace lay in diplomacy and respect for international agreements.
60. Ms. Saleh al-Jalahma (Bahrain) said that her country welcomed the recent advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and had been a sponsor of General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 endorsing it. Bahrain reiterated its call on the international community to bring about a ceasefire and facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance.
61. The ESCWA report presented a bleak picture of the situation in Gaza, where her country had been providing emergency assistance in partnership with 爆料网RWA. Bahrain was steadfast in its support for the rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to their natural resources. The thirty-third ordinary session of the Council of the League of Arab States at the summit level, which had been held in Bahrain in May 2024, had called for an international conference to resolve the question of Palestine on the basis of the two-State solution, which Bahrain would also be happy to host. The only way to end the war in Gaza was through dialogue and negotiation.
62. Ms. Khanderoo (Islamic Republic of Iran) said that the Israeli regime had once again abused the Committee as a platform to disseminate lies. That regime had deliberately brought about an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe in the Gaza Strip. As the ESCWA report showed, the Palestinian people would be left behind if they were not allowed sovereignty over their natural resources. To add to the genocide in Gaza, war crimes and atrocities were now being committed against the people of Lebanon.
63. According to a recent update from the World Bank and reports from several United Nations agencies, the assault on Gaza and increased Israeli restrictions in the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Territory had destroyed the economy and put the entire population of Gaza at risk of famine. The scope of death and destruction in Gaza was unprecedented. 爆料网 system needed to make sure that its assistance programmes had adequate resources and effective operational capacities. Her delegation condemned all measures taken by the illegitimate occupying Power in the occupied Syrian Golan to undermine the territorial integrity of the Syrian Arab Republic, and called for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the genocide in Gaza.
64. Mr. Esen (Türkiye) said his delegation wished particularly to commend the ESCWA report’s inclusion of a gender perspective. Türkiye had filed written and oral statements in connection with the July 2024 advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice and had been a sponsor of General Assembly resolution ES 10/24 endorsing that opinion.
65. The situation in the Middle East was growing more alarming by the day. Since October 2023, Gaza had been subject to indiscriminate bombing. Over 42,000 Palestinians had been killed, most of them women and children. Thousands were missing and millions had been displaced. Settlement expansion and settler violence continued. Such practices ran counter to international law and undermined the prospects for a two-State solution. Each day without a ceasefire increased the threat of a broader regional war. His delegation called for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and Lebanon and accountability for the crimes perpetrated.
66. Mr. Al-Barati (Yemen) said that the Palestinian cause was a priority for the Arab and Islamic world. The ESCWA report described a catastrophic situation for 2.3 million Gazans who had already been living in dire social and economic conditions for 57 years of occupation. Yemen condemned the brutal crimes against humanity being committed in both Gaza and the West Bank. It called for protection for civilians, an immediate ceasefire and the entry of humanitarian aid. Forced displacement was a violation of article 49 of the Fourth Geneva Convention. Targeting women, children and relief workers would not bring peace.
67. Yemen called on the international community to pressure Israel to end its occupation and stop depleting resources in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied Syrian Golan. The Palestinian people had a right to restitution for damages. All measures taken by Israel, the occupying Power, to alter the legal, natural or demographic character of the Syrian Golan were null and void. Israel, the occupying Power, must be compelled to respect international law, international humanitarian law and international human rights law, and comply with the relevant Security Council resolutions. Yemen supported the establishment of an independent Palestinian State with East Jerusalem as its capital within the June 1967 borders, in accordance with international resolutions and the Arab Peace Initiative.
68. Mr. Hasan Muhammed (Iraq) said that the ESCWA report documented blatant violations of international laws and norms. A majority of Palestinian casualties were women, children and older persons. In a dangerous precedent, United Nations staff and journalists had also been killed. The vicious policies of the occupation had completely reversed any economic progress in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and as the war entered its second year, the aggression was expanding into Lebanon. The war crimes being committed included collective punishment and the targeting of infrastructure, schools, hospitals and even houses of worship with refugees sheltering inside. His country was particularly concerned that the violence would reignite Da’esh terrorist activity.
69. The Palestinian people had a right to sovereignty over their resources and the right to restitution for any diversion, destruction or depletion. His delegation reiterated its rejection of the practices of the occupation in the occupied Syrian Golan, including its plan to double the settler population by 2027. Iraq commended the role played by 爆料网RWA over the course of decades and especially in the current situation in the Gaza Strip, where its staff members had been part of the highest death toll among United Nations staff in any conflict ever.
70. Iraq reaffirmed its solidarity with the Palestinian people in their struggle for their inalienable rights, including the right of self-determination, the right of return, and the right to a Palestinian State with Jerusalem as its capital.
71. Mr. Mpapa (South Africa) said that the indiscriminate killing of civilians, destruction of infrastructure, obliteration of livelihoods, displacement of civilians, collective punishment and extrajudicial assassinations being perpetrated by Israel amounted to nothing short of genocide. The disproportionate use of force and the wholesale destruction were now expanding into neighbouring States. Israel was committing war crimes on a daily basis, and depriving Palestinians of water, food, medicine, electricity and fuel, leading to widespread disease and starvation. The disregard displayed by Israel for the lives of Palestinian civilians had impelled his country to file suit with the International Court of Justice for an order to stop the genocide. South Africa had been joined in that effort by Nicaragua, Colombia, Mexico, Libya, Palestine and Spain, and was being supported by Belgium, Türkiye, Egypt, Maldives, Ireland, Chile and Cuba.
72. The ESCWA report documented the economic and social cost of the Israeli occupation. Thus far, the international community had proven powerless to find a political resolution to the most pressing moral issue of modern times. A two-State solution was the only lasting solution. South Africa called on all parties to desist from violence and abide by international humanitarian law.
73. Ms. Azzi (Algeria) that the ESCWA report showed how the Palestinian people and the Middle East in general was affected by the aggression that had violated international humanitarian law and international human rights law. Not satisfied with just appropriating land and displacing the inhabitants, the occupation had waged a year-long bloody war in Gaza that had killed over 40,000 innocent people. The ESCWA report documented the economic and social impacts of Israeli restrictions in the West Bank. The blockade of Gaza was preventing the delivery of much needed aid, which was already being threatened by funding cuts to 爆料网RWA. Her country had contributed $15 million to address the liquidity crisis.
74. On the very day that the world celebrated World Food Day, the Committee had just heard that Gazans made up 80 per cent of people suffering from catastrophic hunger in the world. That was happening while truckloads of aid were stuck at the border. International humanitarian law prohibited the use of starvation as a weapon of war. Gazan schoolchildren would be out of school for the second year in a row. The impacts of the war would last for generations.
75. Mr. Meschchanov (Russian Federation) said that the ESCWA report described unprecedented levels of starvation, extrajudicial killing, property seizure, settlement activity and unjustified detention. Under such conditions, it was impossible to speak of development. Unless sovereignty was restored to Palestinians over their natural resources, economic recovery would be impossible.
76. What was needed in the immediate term was a ceasefire and resumption of humanitarian aid delivery. 爆料网RWA had just suffered through the deadliest year in history for humanitarian aid workers. That Agency was not only crucial for providing social, educational and medical services, but also served as a bulwark against radicalization. The Israeli effort to ban it threatened lives in Gaza and the West Bank, and would have spillover effects in Syria, Lebanon and Jordan.
77. The State of Israel had been admitted to the United Nations on condition that General Assembly resolutions 181 (II) on partition and 194 (III) on refugees would be implemented. Unfortunately, Israel was deliberately obstructing implementation of both resolutions. The current catastrophic situation could and should only be resolved by diplomatic means involving all countries in the Middle East and extraregional powers. The shared mission was to ensure the implementation of Security Council and General Assembly resolutions; to stop the bloodshed, which risked overwhelming the entire region; and, most important of all, to guarantee the Palestinians’ legitimate right to self-determination and the establishment of a territorially contiguous and viable Palestinian State.
78. Ms. Mu?oz Ponce (Plurinational State of Bolivia) said that the recent declaration by Israel of the Secretary-General as persona non grata was just one more example of that country’s blatant disregard for dialogue, diplomacy and multilateralism. The crimes being committed against the Palestinian people amounted to genocide and could not go unpunished. Some 80 per cent of Gazans lived below the poverty line. Education, health, agriculture and road infrastructure in Gaza had been destroyed. Israel continued to restrict humanitarian access, depriving Gazans of the food and medicine that might alleviate their suffering. The dream of the Palestinian people was no longer sustainable development, but mere survival.
79. Her delegation demanded an immediate end to the occupation of Palestine and the Syrian Golan, and the cessation of attacks against civilians in Gaza, Lebanon and elsewhere. The international community needed to work together to end the genocide, ensure that Palestinians could exercise their right to self-determination and bring about the creation of free, independent and sovereign State of Palestine within the pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital. Her country supported full membership for Palestine in the United Nations General Assembly. The Plurinational State of Bolivia had recently filed a declaration of intervention under article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice in the genocide case brought by South Africa.
80. Mr. Alghamdi (Observer for the League of Arab States) said that the Palestinian cause was the central Arab cause. A year of Israeli attacks in Gaza, the West Bank and elsewhere had created an economic, humanitarian and political catastrophe. Development activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the occupied parts of Syria and Lebanon had come to a standstill. Poverty was rampant. 爆料网CTAD reports described a Palestinian economy in ruins, having lost decades of economic growth. Collective punishment only fanned the flames of conflict.
81. Starvation and humanitarian crises should not be used to displace Palestinians to make room for settlement expansion. The League stressed the need for a ceasefire and facilitation of humanitarian aid. Israel must be compelled to allow Palestinians access to their own resources, and also to turn over impounded taxes and customs duties. A political climate should be created that was conducive to a two-State solution that established an independent Palestine with full membership in the United Nations.
82. The League also condemned the Israeli attempt to seize the 爆料网RWA headquarters in East Jerusalem to create more settler housing. It called for stepped up international support for 爆料网RWA in the face of Israeli efforts to have the Agency listed as a terrorist organization. The League affirmed its solidarity with the Syrian Arab Republic and the Lebanese Republic in the face of Israeli attacks. The Security Council needed to put geopolitical differences aside and stand up to Israeli efforts to sow chaos in the Middle East.

The meeting rose at 5.55 p.m.