RAMALLAH, May 15, 2018 (WAFA) – Permanent observer to the UN, Riyad Mansour Tuesday called for a transparent and independent investigation into the deadly violence in the Gaza strip and said Palestinians will endorse the results of the investigation in advance.
He told the 15 members of the Security Council that Israel is the main source of violence in the region and any attempt to forge this fact is not consistent with reality.
“We ask those who have different accounts; why are you obstructing a transparent and independent investigation? We accept in advance the results of this investigation called for by 14 members of the Council and the Secretary-General of the United Nations.”
He affirmed that Palestinians accept the results in advance and asked if the countries blocking the investigation are ready to accept it along with its consequences.
The United Nations Security Council met on Tuesday to discuss violence along the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip, following the deadliest day during which 62 Palestinians were killed by Israeli armed forces.
Nikolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator addressed the council members and said the killing acts in Gaza don’t serve the peace process. He strongly condemned the events in the Gaza Strip and held Israel responsible for the use of lethal force, which led to the high death toll.
He said Palestinians in Gaza are protesting because of poverty and for living in a large prison with no future. Palestinians in Gaza are frustrated and angry. If their voices are not heard, more destruction will happen, he explained.
Kuwait called for the session after 60 Palestinians were killed and thousands wounded by Israeli gunfire amid mass protests on Monday against opening the US embassy in Jerusalem.
Mansour Al-Otaibi, Kuwait’s ambassador to UN condemned the killing of over 60 Palestinians and said that Israel’s violation of International law would not have continued if it wasn’t for the lack of action by the Security Council.
He added that moving embassies to the city of Jerusalem is a violation of all decisions adopted by the Security Council and affirmed his country’s support of any Palestinian move on the national and the international level to solidify its sovereignty in the occupied city of Jerusalem.
Al-Otaibi said he would circulate a draft resolution to the 15-member council on Wednesday calling for the provision of international protection for the Palestinian people.
Sacha Sergio, the representative of Bolivia to the Security Council said "We must demand that the UN Security Council implement its commitments, as it will not achieve anything for the Palestinians.”
He added that the international community and the UN Security Council have completely failed the Palestinians and the world must work to resolve the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and stop the illegal occupation of Palestine.
Sergio condemned the transfer of the US Embassy to occupied Jerusalem, “because this is a violation of the resolutions of the Security Council and the General Assembly, and the United States, which supports the occupation has become an obstacle to peace and part of the problem and not part of the solution.”
He called for an independent investigation into what happened in the Gaza Strip and to work to end the occupation and establish a Palestinian state on the 1967 borders in line with UN resolutions and the UN Security Council.
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