UN Secretary General Calls For Justice, Assistance And Ends Occupation
JAKARTA - UN Secretary-General Ant Totalio Guterres delivered a message on the commemoration of International Solidarity Day with the Palestinian People, which is celebrated annually on November 29, emphasizing the urgent need for justice, humanitarian aid and an end to occupation.
Secretary-General Guterres said this year's anniversary came after two years of devastating suffering in Gaza, exacerbated by the recent start of a ceasefire. Tens of thousands of people have died, nearly a third of children, with thousands injured.
The UN Secretary-General condemned continued injustice in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, citing Israeli military attacks, settlers' violence, expansion of settlements, evictions, demolition and threats of annexation.
He explained hundreds of humanitarian workers, mostly Palestinian UN staff, had died, marking the loss of the largest personnel in UN history, while the death toll of journalists had exceeded the number of casualties in any conflict since World War II.
"The killings of so many civilians, the repeated evacuation of the entire population, and the inhibition of humanitarian aid should never be accepted under any circumstances," said Secretary General Guterres, quoted from WAFA November 20.
The recent ceasefire offers "a splash of hope," he added, calling on all parties to fully respect him and seek solutions that uphold international law.
The UN Secretary-General further stressed the urgent need for life-saving humanitarian aid to enter Gaza and reaffirmed its support for the United Nations Aid and Work Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), which he described as an irreplaceable rescue path for millions of Palestinians.
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He reiterated his call to end "illegal populations of Palestinian territories," in line with the decisions of the International Court and the UN General Assembly, and urged inevitable progress towards a two-state solution, with Israel and Palestine coexisting peacefully within safe and recognized limits based on the lines before 1967, and Jerusalem as the capitals of the two countries.