Group of Friends in Defense of UN Charter adopts a declaration on exerting efforts to end Israeli occupation of Arab lands

NEW YORK, SEP.28, (ST)- Foreign ministers of the countries of the Group of Friends in Defense of the United Nations Charter have asserted the need to exert more efforts to end the ongoing illegal Israeli occupation of Palestine and the Arab territories, and to stop its repeated attacks on sovereign states in the region.

That came during the 6th  meeting of the foreign ministers of the member states of the group, which was held in New York with the participation of Foreign Minister Bassam Sabbagh, under the title “The catastrophic consequences of the situation in occupied Palestine, especially in Gaza Strip: the necessity of ending the ongoing Israeli occupation and its aggressive wars in the region.”

The  meeting adopted a political declaration in which the member states of the group reaffirmed their strong commitment to the United Nations Charter, its principles and purposes, and worked to uphold it, given the importance of the Charter in preserving and strengthening international peace and security, and achieving a more prosperous, just, and equitable world.

The ministers stressed that establishing peace in the Middle East requires the withdrawal of “Israel” from all occupied Arab territories, including the occupied Syrian Arab Golan, and the implementation of relevant United Nations resolutions, most notably Security Council Resolutions 242 of 1967, 338 of 1973, and 497 of 1967, according to the Syrian Arab New Agency (SANA).

These resolutions affirm the inadmissibility of seizing lands by force in accordance with the Charter of the United Nations and the principles of international law, and stress that the Israeli decision to impose its laws, jurisdiction, and administration in the occupied Syrian Golan is “null and void,” and does not have any international legal effect.

The ministers condemned the repeated Israeli attacks on the territory of the Syrian Arab Republic, as they represent a blatant assault on the territory of a sovereign state, and a flagrant violation of the provisions of international law and the United Nations Charter, including the Israeli attack that targeted residential areas in Hama Governorate on September 8, which led to the martyrdom of 18 citizens and the injury of 37 others.

In the same context, the Foreign Ministers expressed their categorical rejection of the imposition of illegal, unilateral coercive measures against the people and government of the Syrian Arab Republic, which negatively affect its humanitarian situation, development and prosperity, and demanded the immediate, complete and unconditional lifting of these measures.

B.Q.