At the General Assembly today, the Maldives noted that the failure to end the 67 year long Israeli-Palestinian conflict remains one of the greatest failures of the international community and the United Nations.
Despite the adoption of countless UN Security Council resolutions, and the General Assembly having numerous reports of illegal Israeli practices, the occupying power is not held accountable and its impunity unchecked, noted H.E. Mr. Ahmed Sareer, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the UN. As a result, Palestine and the Palestinian people continue to suffer because of this flagrant injustice.
The Permanent Representative also emphasised that each year thousands of Israeli settlers
move into the occupied territories illegally, quoting the Secretary General's report which stated that "the physical destruction caused by the Israeli occupying forces, included destruction and severe damage caused to thousands of homes, schools, businesses, hospitals, United Nations facilities, and civilian infrastructure." The Palestinian people's rights are incessantly being violated as a result of these actions, which also exacerbate their social and economic conditions.
The Maldives reaffirmed its position that sustainable peace can only be maintained through the two-State solution, recognising the sovereign and independent State of Palestine, based on 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital.
The Permanent Representative concluded by calling on the United Nations to fulfil its legal, political and moral responsibility to realize a lasting and comprehensive solution to the question of Palestine, in accordance with the UN Charter, international law and the Security Council resolutions.
