New York, 27 July 2022 (TDI): Ambassador Munir Akram, while addressing the UN Security Council quarterly open debate on “the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” urged to adequately address the persistent Palestinian issue “as the first and foremost urgent priority.”

The United Nations Security Council held its quarterly open debate on the 26th of July. The purpose of it was to address the situation in the Middle East, especially the Palestinian issue.

Lynne Elizabeth Hastings, the UN’s Resident, and Humanitarian Coordinator for the Occupied Palestinian Territory (OPT), and the Deputy Special Coordinator for the Middle East peace process, briefed the session.

The debate was about the prevailing Palestinian issue and the visit of the US President, Joe Biden to Israel, the West Bank, and Saudi Arabia. Moreover, the meeting emphasized the necessity of re-establishing a political perspective to proceed with the peace process.

Pakistan expressed its deep concern about the continued deterioration of the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

While addressing the 15-member Council, the Ambassador said that the main cause of instability, tension, and conflicts in the entire Middle East was the festering wound of the Israeli Occupation and atrocities in occupied Palestine.

Non-execution of the Council’s Resolutions

According to the Pakistani Envoy, the Security Council failed to reiterate the UN Charter’s principles and International Law in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.

Also, neither did it condemn the Israeli violations of Human Rights, International law, the Council’s resolutions, and its inability to relaunch efforts to promote the two-state solution.

Along these lines, he added that the only solution to the Palestine-Israel Conflict is the establishment of a two-state solution.

That would involve the creation of a sovereign, contiguous, and viable Palestinian State, coexisting with Israel within recognized and accepted pre-1967 boundaries, with Al Quds al Sharif as its capital.

Additionally, he briefed the council on the key points of the “Islamabad Declaration” adopted by the OIC’s Foreign Ministers’ meeting in March last year. Among them included

  • Reemphasizing the centrality of the Palestinian question and Al Quds al Sharif for the Muslim Ummah.
  • The principles and ongoing support for the Palestinian people to reclaim their unalienable legitimate national rights, including the right to self-determination need reaffirmation.
  • Al Quds al Sharif is a crucial component of the Occupied Palestinian territory and urges the international community to pressurize Israel to refrain from any actions that alter the Holy city’s character or legal standing.
Disparity of Circumstances in Conflicted Regions

Furthermore, Ambassador Akram reasserted that the siege of Gaza, brutality against unarmed Palestinian women, children, and men, and confiscation of properties for Israeli settlements are all serious violations of UNSC resolutions and particularly humanitarian law.

Besides, there is no legal, moral, or political analogy between Israel, the occupying state, and the Palestinian people, who are both occupied and oppressed.

While concluding, he added that the Palestine question which serves to be the root of the region’s insecurity and crises must be successfully handled as the first and foremost priority, to bring peace and stability to the Middle East.

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