NEW YORK: Qatar has affirmed that the continued Israeli occupation of the Palestinian territories represents a flagrant violation of the principles of international law, the United Nations Charter and its resolutions 56 years ago, noting that the world is now witnessing a new chapter of occupation practices represented in the Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip.
This came in Qatar's statement delivered by Second Secretary of the Permanent Mission of the State of Qatar to the United Nations Sheikh Jassim Al Thani before the Fourth Committee of the 78th session of the United Nations General Assembly on Item 50: Report of the Special Committee to investigate Israeli practices affecting the human rights of the Palestinian people and other Arab residents of the occupied territories at the UN headquarters in New York.
He added that the massacres committed against the defenceless Palestinian people are continuing and have claimed the lives of nearly 10,000civilians, 70 percent of whom are women and children. He pointed to the Jabalia camp massacre committed by the Israeli occupation forces on October 31 and strongly condemned by Qatar.
He said Qatar condemned the targeting of civilian objects, including hospitals and schools, such as Al Fakhoora School that houses thousands of displaced people, as well as population centres and shelters for the displaced, as brutal massacres against defenceless civilians, a blatant violation of the provisions of international law and international humanitarian law, and a dangerous escalation in the course of confrontations, which portends dire consequences for the security and stability of the region. He added that Qatar stressed the need for the international community to act urgently to protect the Palestinian brothers trapped in the Gaza Strip.
He stated that Qatar warned of the danger of adopting a collective punishment policy, including calls to evacuate the northern Gaza Strip of its population and attempts to forcibly displace the brotherly Palestinian people from the Strip, considering that forcing civilians to flee or take refuge in neighbouring countries as a violation of international laws. He pointed to the condemnation of Qatar for the dangerous statements of the Israeli Heritage Minister, in which he called for the bombing of Gaza with a nuclear bomb.
He expressed Qatar's deep concern about the Israeli ground incursion into the Gaza Strip, which it considered a dangerous development that would have devastating security and humanitarian impacts in the Strip, especially on the safety of civilians and hostages, and have disastrous repercussions on the security and stability of the region and mediation and pacification efforts.
The Second Secretary of the Permanent Delegation of the State of Qatar to the UN said that the reports presented to the General Assembly explain in this item the ongoing Israeli measures in violation of international law in the occupied Palestinian and Arab territories, which violate the rights of the brotherly Palestinian people, including the confiscation of civilian property and the demolition of homes.
He reiterated that the Israeli settlements in the occupied territories are illegal and constitute an obstacle to achieving the two-state solution. He also reaffirmed the need to avoid compromising the status of Jerusalem, Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque.
We emphasize that Israel's decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration on the occupied Syrian Arab Golan is null and void and has no international legal effect, he added.
He stressed the need to implement the General Assembly resolution entitled "Protection of civilians and upholding legal and humanitarian obligations," which was adopted on October 27, and called for an immediate and permanent humanitarian truce, demanded the parties to protect civilians and civilian objects and provide basic goods and services to civilians, and encouraged the establishment of humanitarian corridors and taking others initiatives to facilitate the delivery of humanitarian aid.
He stressed thatQatar will continue its effective contribution to the ongoing diplomatic efforts to find a way out that will prevent the bloodshed of the Palestinians and ensure a sustainable political solution following the known references, stressing that the only guarantee for achieving sustainable peace in the region is through a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian cause, in a way that guarantees the restoration of rights to the Palestinian people under the two-state solution initiative, ensuring the establishment of an independent Palestinian state on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
