ANKARA, Thursday, September 12, 2019 (WAFA) - United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said that the goal of a peaceful and just solution to the Palestinian question — which can only be possible with two States living in peace and security — remains elusive.
Guterres added in a message read out by Seda Pumpyanskaya, Director of the Strategic Communications Division in the United Nations Department of Global Communications, at the United Nations International Media Seminar on Peace in the Middle East, in Ankara on Wednesday, that “unfortunately over the past year, we have only moved farther away from that objective as the situation has deteriorated. Palestinians and Israelis continue to suffer from deadly cycles of violence.”
He stressed that the United Nations remains committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to end the conflict on the basis of international law, relevant UN resolutions and previous agreements.
“The ongoing political, economic and humanitarian crisis in the Occupied Palestinian Territory has reached alarming proportions. The situation in Gaza is of special concern as approximately 2 million Palestinians remain under severe movement and access restrictions, mired in increasing poverty and unemployment, with ed access to adequate health, education, water and electricity,” he said.
He stressed that the international community must act with speed and determination to address Palestine’s urgent economic and humanitarian needs. “Yet no amount of humanitarian or economic support will resolve the conflict,” he said.
The seminar was organized by the United Nations Department of Global Communications in cooperation with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Turkey.
It brought together diplomats, journalists, media experts and youth representatives from Israel, Palestine, Turkey, Europe, United States and other parts of the world.
They discussed a variety of media-related issues and trends connected to the Israel-Palestine conflict, including the humanitarian crisis in the occupied Palestinian Territory, and ongoing challenges for media reporting on the situation in Gaza.
Meanwhile, Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine to the United Nations, who also attended the seminar, declared that “people are struggling, like all people living under occupation, for freedom, independence and dignity.”
While UNRWA should provide support so long as the occupation continues, more than just humanitarian support is needed, he emphasized.
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