Guterres urges continuous work to enforce UN resolutions, end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres has called for continuous work to find a settlement to the Palestinian cause based on relevant UN resolutions with the aim of ending the Israeli occupation and establishing an independent Palestinian state.
“The absence of a political process that aims at ending the occupation is the biggest obstacle impeding development in the Palestinian territories,” Guterres said in a report submitted to the UN General Assembly, stressing the importance of continuous work as to find a settlement based on UN resolutions in preparation to end the occupation and establish a geographically connected and sovereign Palestinian state on the basis of the June 4th, 1967 line.
The UN Chief made it clear that the Israeli settlement building activities, house demolition operations, the restrictions imposed on the Palestinian people and other long-standing manifestations of military occupation are massively affecting the humanitarian, economic, social and political situation of the Palestinians in the occupied territories.
Guterres pointed out that around 2 million Palestinians were suffering from a sharp decrease in food security in both Gaza and the West Bank by the end of 2020, with an estimated increase of 300,000 people compared to 2019.
He called for collecting 417 million US dollars to secure the basic food materials, protection, healthcare, housing, water and sanitation for 1.8 million Palestinians within the framework of the humanitarian response to the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories for the year 2021.
Hamda Mustafa