New York, 24 October 2018.In the debate on Item: Permanent Sovereignty of the Palestinian People in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan over their natural resources, of the United Nations Second Committee, Rosalia Cúe Delgado, Second Secretary at Permanent Mission of Cuba to the UN, highlighted how Israel deprives the Palestinian people of their right to development by stripping them, among other things, of the sovereign right over their natural resources. This, she added, has been shown in the report submitted by the Secretary-General in this regard, which confirms that the 51 years of Israeli occupation have had a detrimental effect on the social and economic development of the population in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and of the Arab population in the occupied Syrian Golan.
The diplomat enumerated several of the harmful effects of the Israeli occupation, such as the almost total control over the water of occupied Palestine; the restrictions and land confiscations that prevent the Palestinians and Syrians of the Golan from having access to and using agricultural land; the destruction of forests, as well as of hydraulic and electric structures that has not only contribute to the deterioration of the provision of basic services to the population, but also of the environment, including marine ecosystems.
Cúe Delgado also illustrated the situation of the inhabitants of Gaza, where nearly 2 million Palestinians continue to live under the Israeli blockade, 54% of the population lives in poverty and 140,000 children under 5 years old suffer from malnutrition and chronic growth retardation.
On behalf of Cuba, the official condemned Israel's continued military occupation of the Palestinian territory; the illegal policies and colonizing practices in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem and the Syrian Golan; the human rights violations; and the systematic war crimes that cause great suffering to that people.