Saudi Arabia calls on Security Council to confront Houthi terrorism, Israeli violations

Saudi Arabia’s deputy permanent representative to the UN Mohammed Al-Ateeq was speaking at a UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East. (SPA)

LONDON: Saudi Arabia called on the international community to take firm measures against the Iran-backed Houthi militia, who obstruct all peace efforts to end the 8-year war.
The absence of firm measures against the militia is what gave the Houthis more room to harm the Yemeni people, destabilize the region and significantly affect international peace and security, the Kingdom’s deputy permanent representative to the UN, Mohammed Al-Ateeq, told the Security Council.
He was speaking at a speaking at a session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue.
Al-Ateeq reiterated the Kingdom’s position toward the Palestinian cause and ending the occupation, establishing an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital, and ensuring the right of return for Palestinian refugees. He said this also includes ending Israel’s occupation of the Syrian Golan Heights and Lebanese territories.
He stressed the importance of comprehensive and lasting peace in the Middle East.
“The occupation authorities continue to violate international resolutions and norms in occupied Palestine and practice the most heinous forms of injustice and aggression against the Palestinian people,” he said.
“The flagrant violation of the sanctity of the Ibrahimi Mosque in the city of Hebron by the Israeli president represents the tip of the iceberg of these violations,” he added.
Al-Ateeq said the time has come for the international community and the Security Council to carry out their responsibilities toward supporting the Palestinian people and the Palestinian cause, by realizing the right of the Palestinian people to build their independent state guaranteed to them by international resolutions, and to firmly address the ongoing Israeli practices and violations.
“The Iranian-backed terrorist Houthi militia confirms day after day its indifference to the aspirations of the Yemeni people, the stability of Yemen and its subversive role in threatening regional stability and international peace and security,” Al-Ateeq added.
The biggest evidence of this is its continued threat to the safety of international navigation and the use of civilian objects and Yemeni ports to destabilize the security of the region and attack civilians in the Kingdom and the UAE, he said, the latest of which was the terrorist attack that targeted Abu Dhabi International Airport, and the hijacking of the Emirati ship Rwabee.
Al-Ateeq also expressed the Kingdom’s support for the Lebanese people, and said his country urged all Lebanese leaders to give priority to the public’s interests, work to achieve security, stability and prosperity, and stop Hezbollah’s terrorist hegemony over the country.