General Assembly — 5th Plenary Meeting — Summary Record (A/74/PV.5) (Excerpts)

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Address by Mr. Barham Salih, President of the Republic of Iraq,…We emphasize the need to work seriously to reach a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian question, in accordance with international resolutions and in a manner that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. We reiterate our solidarity with the Palestinian people, their suffering and their legitimate right to establish their independent State on their territory. However, the recent announcements to annex the Jordan Valley and northern Red Sea are a blatant violation of international law and an exacerbating factor that will only prolong the crisis and deepen the wound that threatens the future of stability in the region and the world.

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Address by General Michel Aoun, President of the Lebanese Republic,…In a related context, I want to warn against the danger of reducing the services provided to Palestinian refugees by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which have added to the social and fiscal strains weighing on them and on us and threaten to turn Palestinian school students into young people seeking revenge. In that regard, I want to note Lebanon’s categorical rejection of any attempt to undermine or modify UNRWA’s mandate. I call on the countries that contribute to its budget to double their contributions in order to enable it to restore its vital role. The crisis in the Middle East, which has lingered for decades, is becoming more complicated, because all approaches to reaching a settlement and all of Israel’s practices run counter to the founding principles of the United Nations. The Judaization of Al-Quds, the policy of systematic colonization, the laws that contravene human rights, the recognition of the annexation of lands occupied by force, as in the case of the Golan Heights, the election promises to annex new lands, with all the leaks about the so-called deal of the century, changing the borders of some States and undermining their territorial unity, while eliminating the Palestinian cause and keeping the Palestinians where they are, as well as the damage that Lebanon is likely to suffer as a result because it hosts a large number of refugees — all of these undermine any chance for peace in the Middle East and unquestionably point to a dark, unknown future. And yet people continue to have rights however long it takes.

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Address by Mr. Hassan Rouhani, President of the Islamic Republic of Iran,…At the outset, I want to commemorate the freedom-seeking movement of Hossein and pay homage to all the seekers of freedom of the world who do not bow to oppression or aggression and who tolerate all the hardships of the struggle for rights, as well as to the spirits of all the oppressed martyrs of terrorist strikes and bombings in Yemen, Syria, occupied Palestine, Afghanistan and other countries, including Iraq.

The Middle East is burning amid the flames of war, bloodshed, aggression, occupation and religious and sectarian fanaticism and extremism, a situation in which the oppressed people of Palestine are the biggest victims, as acts of discrimination, the expropriation of land, settlement expansion and killings continue against them. The plans that the United States and the Zionists have imposed on them, such as the deal of the century that recognized Beit Al-Maqdis as the capital of the Zionist regime and the addition of the Syrian Golan to the other occupied territories, are certainly doomed.

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Address by Mr. Faustin Archange Touadera, President of the Central African Republic,…Our country has steadfastly defended just causes in all international forums. We reiterate our unflagging commitment to the right of the Palestinian people to dignity and sovereignty within a viable, independent State, with East Jerusalem as its capital, in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant international resolutions. We also denounce the continued Israeli violations of human rights in Palestine and the rest of the occupied Arab territories.

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Address by Mr. Idriss Deby Itno, President, Head of State and Head of Government of the Republic
of Chad,…We emphasize the need to work seriously to reach a just and comprehensive solution for the Palestinian question, in accordance with international resolutions and in a manner that guarantees the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people. We reiterate our solidarity with the Palestinian people, their suffering and their legitimate right to establish their independent State on their territory. However, the recent announcements to annex the Jordan Valley and northern Red Sea are a blatant violation of international law and an exacerbating factor that will only prolong the crisis and deepen the wound that threatens the future of stability in the region and the world.

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