Statement by Ambassador Gerardo Peñalver Portal, First Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs and Permanent Representative of Cuba to United Nations, at the UN Security Council Open Debate on "The situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question".
New York, 24 January 2024.
Mr. President:
We endorse the statement by Namibia, on behalf of the Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.
It is time to stop Israel's genocide against the Palestinian people. We reiterate our unequivocal demand for an immediate ceasefire and an end to the war rhetoric.
The urgent mobilization of emergency humanitarian aid, under UN coordination, is essential to address the catastrophic situation in Gaza.
We demand the United States government to stop paralyzing the UN Security Council. This body must fulfill its mandate, as soon as possible, to stop the collective punishment being carried out by Israel, the Occupying Power, against the Palestinian population and put an end to the escalating violence and massacre in Gaza.
History will hold the United States Government accountable for its repeated complicit veto, which guarantees impunity for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Occupying Power.
Mr. President:
The root causes of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, which did not begin on October 7, 2023, must be addressed without delay. It is urgent that this Security Council enforces its own resolutions to end the Israeli occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem. This body cannot remain inert in the face of Israel's illegal policy of annexation, all its colonizing practices and its Apartheid system, which have persisted for more than seven decades in the occupied Palestinian territories, in flagrant violation of the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United Nations and International Law. Nothing can justify such actions.
A comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, based on the creation of two States, which would allow the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and to have an independent and sovereign State within the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and which would also guarantee the right of return of the refugees, cannot be postponed. We consider it essential to convene, as a matter of urgency, a Peace Conference under the auspices of the United Nations, in order to preserve the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people.
The admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations can no longer be delayed.
Mr. President:
We reaffirm Cuba's willingness to contribute to legitimate international efforts to put an end to the current situation.
We support South Africa's lawsuit before the International Court of Justice against Israel, in relation to that country's violations of its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide, to which Cuba is a State Party.
We reiterate the proposal presented by our country at the recent 19th Summit of the Non-Aligned Movement Summit to urgently send to the Gaza Strip an international protection mission, authorized by the UN General Assembly, with the mandate to ensure the safety and protection of the civilian population and facilitate the delivery of emergency humanitarian aid, including water and food.
We strongly condemn the unprecedented killing of staff members of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), and of refugees hosted under the UN flag. We will continue to support the extraordinary humanitarian work of the Agency.
In line with this position, we call to observe resolution 78/251, presented by our delegation on behalf of the Group of 77 and China in the Fifth Committee of the General Assembly, which was supported by the vast majority of the Member States.
Mr. President:
The resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict will contribute to the stability and peace of the entire Middle East region. An end to other Israeli abuses in the region, supported by the United States, would also contribute to this noble goal.
We demand the total and unconditional withdrawal of Israel from the Syrian Golan and all occupied Arab territories. Aggressions against Syria, which violate its sovereignty and territorial integrity, and external interference in that sister Arab nation must cease. We support the search for a peaceful and negotiated solution to the situation imposed on it.
We condemn the military attacks by the U.S. and its NATO allies in Yemen, in violation of international law. Acts of this nature encourage the expansion of war and genocide in the Gaza Strip. Violence is not the solution to the conflicts in the Middle East.
We reiterate our strong condemnation of the terrorist attack perpetrated in Kerman during the ceremony commemorating the fourth anniversary of the assassination of General Qassem Soleimani. We express our solidarity with the Iranian people and government. Our heartfelt condolences go to the families of the victims.
We demand an immediate and unconditional end to the arbitrary and illegal unilateral coercive measures imposed by the United States against sovereign nations in the Middle East.
Stop the double standards, selectivity and political manipulation that undermine the cause of international peace and security. The Security Council must put itself at the service of the peoples of the United Nations and not of the spurious interests of the war machine.
Thank you very much.