RAMALLAH, June 2, 2018 (WAFA) – Foreign and Expatriates Minister Riyad al-Malki Friday regretted the US veto of a Kuwait-drafted UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution calling for the provision of international protection to the Palestinian people.
“Today, a solid majority of members, including three permanent members of the Council, voted in favor of upholding international law and providing the Palestinian people with protection from the colonial Israeli occupation. We regret however that the Council’s will was hijacked by one member and it thus failed to uphold its responsibility under the Charter.” said al-Malki in a press statement.
“We are however encouraged by the resounding message communicated by the Council members through their vote on the US draft resolution,” he added.
He called on the United States “to accept facts and realities: No one can whitewash the ongoing Israeli occupation and its grave violations of human rights and international law.”
He pledged that Palestine “will persevere in pursuing all available political and legal avenues to ensure the protection of our people from the occupation until this colonial occupation ends.”
The UNSC voted Friday on a Kuwait-drafted resolution calling for setting up an international protection for the Palestinian people following the killing of dozens of peaceful Palestinian protestors by Israeli forces in Gaza.
Out of the council‘s 15 members, 10 voted in favor, including France, and only the US voted against. There were four abstentions including Britain.
The draft resolution, submitted by Kuwait on Tuesday, “calls for the consideration of measures to guarantee the safety and protection of the Palestinian civilian population.”
It also calls for urgent steps “to ensure an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire” and asks UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres for a written report within 60 days detailing recommendations about “an international protection mechanism”.
The draft also urges immediate, unimpeded humanitarian access and “tangible steps” towards reconciliation between different Palestinian factions, according to the New York Times.
The final version reportedly urged Guterres to report within 30 days of its adoption on “ways and means for ensuring the safety, protection and well-being of the Palestinian civilian population.”
Palestinians launched the Great March of Return protests on March 30 to demand the right of return for refugees forcibly displaced in 1948 from their towns and villages in what is now Israel.
A draft resolution requires nine votes to be adopted in the 15-member council and no veto from the five permanent members - Britain, China, France, Russia and the US.
K.F.
