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Palestine urges 'serious' UN action against Israeli violence

Palestine diplomat urges several UN bodies to 'take all possible measures' against Israeli violations
MENA
2 min read
25 May, 2023
Riyad Mansour, Palestine's ambassador to the UN, urged action by the United Nations to force a halt to Israeli violations in the occupied territories.
In his letters to the UN, Riyad Mansour referred to a number of Israeli violations, including land theft and displacement [Getty]

Palestine on Wednesday urged several United Nations bodies to take "all possible measures" to help put a stop to continuous Israeli violations in the occupied territories.

Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s ambassador to the UN, said the international community must take action to force a halt to "Israel's violations of human rights, war crimes and crimes against humanity that it commits with impunity in the ongoing Nakba against the Palestinian people", Anadolu Agency reported, citing a Palestinian foreign ministry statement.

Mansour called for "collective and serious action in line with international law, including the judicial fields of the International Court of Justice and the International Criminal Court".

In the letters, the  diplomat wrote of Israeli land theft, displacement of Palestinian people, and settlement activities in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. 

Over 150 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank and Gaza Strip since the beginning of this year as Israel continues with ongoing deadly raids on Palestinian towns and cities.

Mansour said the Security Council needed to "reaffirm its rejection of any Israeli claims to sovereignty in Jerusalem and the remainder of the occupied territories, and to demand that Israel respects international law and the current historical and legal situation."

He also stressed that the Security Council must "condemn Israeli settler activities in the occupied territories."

He also condemned far-right Israeli minister Itamar Ben-Gvir's storming of the Al-Aqsa Mosque on Sunday.

Ben-Gvir's raid on the site came several days after Israel's so-called "Flag Day" demonstration, which saw thousands of extremists provocatively brandishing Israeli flags in Jerusalem’s Old City as they chanted racist slogans against Palestinians.

In his letter, Mansour said the march and its chants "showed extremism and incitement".

The Palestinian foreign ministry released similar statements calling for international action on Israeli rights violations earlier this week.

 

Israel has occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, and continues to besiege the Gaza Strip.

Hundreds of thousands of settlers live in settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem that are illegal under international law.