The Security Council's quarterly open debate on “The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question” was held this Monday at the United Nations headquarters in New York.
Ambassador Ernesto Soberón Guzmán, Permanent Representative of Cuba to the United Nations, highlighted the support for the statements made by Uganda, on behalf of the Non-Aligned Movement, the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela, on behalf of the Group of Friends in Defense of the Charter of the United Nations, and Senegal, in its capacity as Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
At the same time, he conveyed Cuba's hope that the ceasefire agreement, announced after 15 months of brutal genocide committed by Israel, the occupying power, against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, will be respected in its three phases, allowing the arrival of sufficient aid to face the unprecedented humanitarian crisis and offering a new opportunity for the resolution of this long conflict.
He also reaffirmed Cuba's support for the immediate admission of Palestine as a member state of the United Nations, a key step in correcting the historical injustice against the Palestinian people and moving towards a definitive solution to the conflict. He reiterated that in order to achieve peace and stability in the region, a comprehensive, just and lasting solution based on the creation of two States is essential, allowing the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and to have a free, independent and sovereign State within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and also guaranteeing the right of return of refugees.
Soberón Guzmán said that the Security Council's inaction in the face of Israel's threats to international peace and security is unacceptable, and urged that body to enforce its own resolutions on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, without further delay.