Saudi envoy reaffirms Palestinian issue remains a key concern for the Kingdom

Saudi Arabia’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel attended a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss recent events in the Palestinian territories. (Twitter/@KSAPermanentGVA)

• Al-Wasel said his country will not hesitate to support the Palestinian people in every way
• He said the Kingdom strongly condemns and rejects the continuing Israeli violations

LONDON: The plight of the Palestinians remains the foremost issue of concern to Saudi Arabia, the Kingdom’s ambassador to the UN in Geneva said on Thursday.
Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel added that his country will not hesitate to support the Palestinian people in every way it can in their efforts to restore their legitimate rights and establish an independent state with full sovereignty over the Palestinian territories and East Jerusalem as its capital.
In a speech during a special session of the UN Human Rights Council to discuss recent events in the occupied Palestinian territories, Al-Wasel expressed “deep concern about the accelerating Israeli colonization policy of Palestinian lands, specifically the threat to evacuate hundreds of Palestinian families from their homes in occupied East Jerusalem, by force, by extremist settlers with the support and assistance of Israeli authorities and in cooperation with racist courts.”
He called on the international community to do what it can to put pressure on Israel to adhere to the requirements of the UN Charter, the Fourth Geneva Convention, international human-rights laws and all relevant UN resolutions.
Al-Wasel said the Kingdom strongly condemns and rejects the continuing Israeli violations of the Israeli West Bank barrier, the building of settlements, the destruction of Palestinian property, and forcible displacement of Palestinians from their homes and land.
“The whole world has witnessed during the past few days the unfortunate and painful events in which the lives of children, women, the elderly and youths were disrespected and their vital installations destroyed,” he said.
These Israeli actions require the swift intervention of the Security Council, he added, especially since they represent serious violations of international human-rights and humanitarian laws.
The envoy said he welcomes all constructive efforts to achieve peace and security, and to deliver humanitarian and medical assistance to those who need it in the Palestinian territories, and called on states to support a draft resolution on the human-rights situation in the occupied territories.