Geneva, 23 November 2021 (TDI): Palestine called on the United Nations to send an international biological investigation team to the Israeli settlements. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates urges to inspect laboratories in the occupied territories.
The Assistant Foreign Minister for United Nations and Specialized Agencies, Omar Awadallah, told the Conference of the States Parties to the Convention on the Prohibition of Biological Weapons that: “since Israel controls the crossing and borders in the occupied territories, the Palestinian Authority is unable to verify what kind of weapons Israel is developing in these illegal settlements, which could pose a grave threat to the lives of the Palestinian people”.
Crimes of the occupation: Israeli settlements and chemical weapons
The official pointed out that Israel refuses to establish a zone free of weapons of mass destruction in the region. As well, uses nuclear weapons and it does not allow the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Therefore, Awadallah accused Israel of using chemical weapons against the Palestinian people. He strongly highlighted that its settlers have used chemical material to burn Palestinian families. He also mentioned specific cases in reference to burning the entire Dawabshe family, including an infant, in the West Bank village of Duma in July 2015. Moreover, the burning alive of the Abu Khdeir boy in Jerusalem in July 2014.
Since General Assembly 76, Palestine has been calling for crimes in the occupied territory to be investigated. The Palestinian Authority claims the need to put an end to the occupation. Therefore, in various statements, the Ministry calls for greater international pressure for Israel to comply with International Law. Last week, the Palestinian Primer Minister called the international community to keep the international aid. The country suffers a structural financial crisis, and the occupation bears responsibility for it.
