Delivered By: His Excellency Mohamed Abushahab, Ambassador and Permanent Representative
UNOFFICIAL TRANSLATION
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Mr. President,
Today, we meet once again in the General Assembly to support the Palestinian cause, to ensure the protection of the equitable rights of the Palestinian people, and to promote peace in the region. This has become a frequent scene since October 7th of last year. The resumed tenth emergency special session of the General Assembly was convened several times following the Security Council’s inability to adopt a resolution calling for a permanent, immediate, and comprehensive ceasefire in Gaza, and its failure to fulfill its mandate of maintaining international peace and security.
I align myself with the statements delivered by the Gulf Cooperation Council, the Arab Group, the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, and the Non-Aligned Movement, all of which expressed the need for an urgent and immediate ceasefire. This too has been expressed by the international community over the past fourteen months. I also emphasize the importance of allowing urgent access to at-scale humanitarian assistance throughout the Gaza Strip, along with the release of the hostages and detainees.
We also renew our call for the protection of humanitarian workers and condemn the attacks on them. In light of the dangerous developments taking place in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and most especially in the Gaza Strip, we must take a firm stance and act urgently against the continued killing of civilians, and the deteriorating tragic humanitarian situation.
It is shocking that the prices of basic foodstuff in Gaza soared by more than a thousand percent compared to pre-war levels. This is in addition to the displacement of more than 130,000 people over the past few weeks due to the Israeli military’s ongoing operations, while in the West Bank, there is rising violence and accelerating settlement activities.
On the other hand, the ceasefire agreement reached between Lebanon and Israel last month gave us a glimmer of hope of a permanent ceasefire along the Blue Line, and the implementation of Resolution 1701. This would spare the people of Lebanon additional suffering.
At the same time, the United Arab Emirates strongly condemns the Israeli forces’ recent seizure of the buffer zone in the Golan Heights. This is in violation of international law, particularly the Agreement of Disengagement signed between Israel and Syria in 1974. We stress our commitment to the unity, independence, and territorial integrity of Syria, and will continue our calls for de-escalation in the region and the restoration of security and stability.
Mr. President,
UNRWA’s development and relief mandate to support and protect Palestinian refugees is extremely important. This mandate must continue until there is a permanent, just, and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue – including the plight of the refugees, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, based on the two-state solution.
Both the General Assembly and the Security Council have an important role to play in addressing all actions aimed at undermining UNRWA’s work, including the Israeli Knesset’s recent decision to ban the work of the Agency, and continue enabling the Agency so that it can continue its work and perform its indispensable and irreplaceable role. In this regard, we stress the importance of the Secretary-General’s message in his 9 December letter regarding the serious challenges facing the Agency and the impact of the Knesset’s decisions.
On the other hand, we commend the recommendations of the report of the Independent Review Group, led by Catherine Colonna, and we encourage their implementation to improve the working methods of the Agency in the long term.
Finally, Mr. President, let us work together to end this protracted conflict, and to protect the Palestinian people and all other peoples of this region from the blight of war and destruction.
Let us support their aspirations of justice, security and stability.
Thank you, Mr. President.