<\/p>\n
03 December 2024<\/p>\n
Seventy-ninth Session,
\n45th & 46th Meetings (AM & PM)<\/p>\n
The General Assembly today emphasized that a two-State solution remains the \u201conly path to lasting peace\u201d in the Middle East, adopting three resolutions to advance this goal, with speakers overwhelmingly urging a Gaza ceasefire and pressing Israel to permit food and aid deliveries into the enclave ahead of the cold winter months.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeace and security will never be achieved through force or occupation,\u201d Assembly President Philemon Yang (Cameroon)<\/strong> stressed, as he emphasized that the continued denial of Palestinian statehood \u201chas only perpetuated cycles of violence and deepened despair\u201d.\u00a0 It has been over a year of hostilities that have caused thousands of deaths and widespread destruction.\u00a0 Now is the time for all to \u201cbury the hatchet for once and for all\u201d, he stressed, calling for an immediate ceasefire in Gaza and the unconditional release of all hostages.<\/p>\n The Assembly adopted a resolution titled \u201cPeaceful settlement of the question of Palestine<\/strong>\u201d (document\u00a0A\/79\/L.23<\/a><\/em><\/strong>), as orally revised, with\u00a0157 votes in favour, 8\u00a0against (Argentina, Hungary, Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, Nauru, Palau, Papua New Guinea, United States) and\u00a07 abstentions (Cameroon, Czech Republic, Ecuador, Georgia, Paraguay, Ukraine, Uruguay)<\/strong>.\u00a0 By terms of that text, the 193\u2011member organ stressed the need to urgently commit to a Middle East peace process.\u00a0 Israel, the occupying Power, must comply with international law, including ceasing all settlement activities and evacuating settlers from the Occupied Palestinian Territory, the text demanded.<\/p>\n Adopting a text titled \u201cDivision for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat<\/strong>\u201d (document\u00a0A\/79\/L.24<\/a><\/em><\/strong>) by a recorded vote of\u00a0101 votes in favour, 27\u00a0against and\u00a042 abstentions, the Assembly requested the Secretary-General continue to provide resources and ensure that the Division continues to effectively carry out its work.<\/p>\n The Assembly also adopted by\u00a097 votes in favour to 8 against (Australia, Canada, Israel, Federated States of Micronesia, Palau, Papua New Guinea, United Kingdom, United States), with\u00a064 abstentions, a resolution on \u201cThe Syrian Golan<\/strong>\u201d (document\u00a0A\/79\/L.19<\/a><\/em>), declaring that Israel has failed to comply with Security Council resolution\u00a0497 (1981).\u00a0 Israel\u2019s decision to impose its jurisdiction on the occupied Syrian Golan is null and void, the text declared, calling on Israel to resume talks on the Syrian and Lebanese tracks and to withdraw from all occupied Syrian Golan.<\/p>\n Presenting the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People for the period 2\u00a0September\u00a02023 to 31\u00a0August\u00a02024<\/strong> (document\u00a0A\/79\/35<\/a><\/em><\/strong>), Chair Cheikh Niang<\/strong> pledged to protect Palestinian rights and revive a two-State solution.\u00a0 The Committee strongly condemns the indiscriminate Israeli military campaign in Gaza, he said, calling for an immediate ceasefire in the enclave.\u00a0The State of Palestine must become a full UN member.\u00a0 Israel must rescind its classification of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a terrorist organization, he added.<\/p>\n \u201cEvery single day \u2014 from sunrise to sunset, from sunset to sunrise \u2014 has been a journey of struggle and survival, of pain and agony, of loss and death,\u201d said the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine.\u00a0\u00a0<\/strong>Israel has spared no means in its destruction of the Palestinian people.\u00a0The question of Palestine has been on the UN agenda since the Organization\u2019s inception and remains the most critical test to the very existence of an international law-based order.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is the question of a people denied the very rights that lie at the heart of the UN Charter,\u201d he went on to say.\u00a0 Solidarity with the Palestinian people must be translated into this decisive action to uphold international law.\u00a0 The Israeli Government’s plan is obvious \u2014 destroy and displace the people to annex the land.\u00a0 \u201cThis illegal occupation must end,\u201d he said, calling for \u201csupremacist ideologies\u201d to be defeated.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s<\/strong> representative<\/strong> said that in the upcoming week the Assembly will convene three meetings to discuss the Middle East and resolutions based on a \u201creckless disregard for the truth\u201d. \u201cIn the wake of Hamas’ 7 October massacre, now over more than a year ago, the UN’s entrenched anti-Israeli bias has been laid bare for all to see,\u201d she added.\u00a0 Hamas\u2019 murder, rape and torture of 1,200 people, and the kidnapping of 240 remain insufficiently addressed by the UN.\u00a0 Instead, the Assembly fixates on resolutions sponsored by Cuba, the Democratic People\u2019s Republic of Korea, Venezuela and the Syrian regime.<\/p>\n If they were \u201ctruly interested in bringing solutions to the war-torn region, they would abandon their obsessive efforts to delegitimize Israel\u201d, she said.\u00a0 They would also focus on how to bring home the hostages, how to dismantle Hamas and how to get the hatred of Israel out of the Palestinian school system.\u00a0 \u201cIs it not time to hold Iran, Hamas, Hizbullah and other terrorist organizations accountable for the blood they have spilled,\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n Many Member States urged a ceasefire in Gaza, spotlighting the plight and suffering of the Palestinian people. Lebanon\u2019s delegate<\/strong>, speaking on behalf of the Arab Group<\/strong>, expressed alarm that people in Gaza are going through genocide and warned that the onset of the winter will certainly aggravate the suffering and add to the current humanitarian crisis.\u00a0 He welcomed the entering into force of the stoppage of hostilities in Lebanon and expressed hope that that pause in fighting would bring about a ceasefire in Gaza and prevent escalation in the West Bank.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s attacks against the Palestinian people are intensifying even as the death toll stands at 44,000 lives, Qatar\u2019s delegate<\/strong> said.\u00a0\u201cWe are at a turning point on the Palestinian question,\u201d she added.\u00a0 T\u00fcrkiye\u2019s delegate<\/strong> called the toll on human life in the Gaza Strip unconscionable, stressing that the breaches of international human rights law and international humanitarian law \u201ccannot be tolerated any longer\u201d.<\/p>\n Speakers expressed concern that the UN has not done more to combat crimes committed against the Palestinian people, with the delegate from Malaysia<\/strong> stressing that the Organization has failed to translate words into action. \u201cWe have remained impotent as injustice persists,\u201d he stressed.<\/p>\n Jordan\u2019s speaker<\/strong>, echoing a similar sentiment, said that Israel\u2019s actions are the result of the international community\u2019s failure to confront \u201cIsraeli arrogance\u201d.\u00a0 Member States must do more to prevent Israel\u2019s access to weapons. Egypt\u2019s delegate<\/strong> said Israeli aggression has expanded to include Lebanon, Syria and other countries in the region, complicating and compounding crises in the Middle East.<\/p>\n \u201cThese measures could not continue without the unlimited and multifaceted support that Israel receives from the United States,\u201d Syria\u2019s delegate<\/strong> pointed out.\u00a0 Washington D.C. is constantly trying to prevent any accountability for \u201cIsraeli war criminals\u201d and its repeated use of the veto in the Council is an example of \u201cbeing blind\u201d.\u00a0 Recent attacks on Syria are \u201cpart of a continued Zionist plot\u201d, he added.<\/p>\n Representing the Group of Friends in Defense of the UN Charter<\/strong>, Venezuela\u2019s speaker<\/strong> also condemned the latest veto by the United States which he said \u201camounts to further complicity\u201d with Israels\u2019 policy and practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.<\/p>\n However, \u201cone-sided resolutions will not help advance a durable peace or bring us closer to a two-State solution\u201d, the delegate of the United States<\/strong> said, also adding that they only perpetuate long-standing divisions at a time \u201cwhen we urgently need to work together\u201d.\u00a0 Because the draft texts neither achieve this objective nor create conditions for direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians, his delegation will vote against all three resolutions, he said, calling for a stabilization of the situation and the need for accountability.<\/p>\n Other delegations such as Chile\u2019s speaker<\/strong> condemned Israel\u2019s expansionist policy in the West Bank and demanded the immediate and unconditional release of Hamas hostages.\u00a0 He also urged Member States to continue contributing to UNRWA so it can maintain its operations.<\/p>\n Other delegations pointed out initiatives they have taken to improve the situation on the ground and hold perpetrators accountable.\u00a0 South Africa\u2019s delegate<\/strong>, recalling the decision to turn to the International Court of Justice to seek an order to prevent Israel from committing genocide in Gaza, welcomed the recent International Criminal Court\u2019s issuance of warrants of arrest for Israel and Hamas\u2019 senior leadership.<\/p>\n Saudi Arabia\u2019s representative<\/strong> said his country, in partnership with the European Union and Norway, has launched the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, which held its first meeting in Riyadh on 30 and 31\u00a0October.\u00a0 He urged countries to support the initiative to hold an international conference in 2025 under the auspices of the Assembly, with the chairmanship of his country and France to implement the relevant UN resolutions and the two-State formula.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 03 December 2024 Seventy-ninth Session, 45th & 46th Meetings (AM & PM) \u2018Bury the Hatchet\u2019, Assembly President Appeals to Warring Parties, as Delegates Demand Ceasefire, More Aid Deliveries in Gaza ahead of Winter The General Assembly today emphasized that a two-State solution remains the \u201conly path to lasting peace\u201d in the Middle East, adopting 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