麻豆APP

VICE-CHAIR OF THE COMMITTEE ON THE EXERCISE OF

THE INALIENABLE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE

H.E. UMAR HADI

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SECURITY COUNCIL OPEN DEBATE

ON THE SITUATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST,

INCLUDING THE PALESTINIAN QUESTION

New York, 28 April 2026

Madam President,

Excellencies,

Ladies and gentlemen,

The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is NOT progressing toward peace.

It is moving toward deeper fragmentation, dispossession and despair as Israel entrenches its illegal occupation by the day, escalating its unlawful policies and violent practices against the Palestinian people.

In Gaza, the humanitarian catastrophe continues.

Settler violence continues at alarming levels in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

UN human rights experts have warned that Palestinians are facing an accelerating campaign of ethnic cleansing and annexation, describing it as “state-backed terror squads at the forefront of the violence”.

OCHA has reported settler attacks across more than 190 communities since January.

Children in particular remain vulnerable to this constant violence.

Entire families are being forcefully displaced.

Homes attacked and livelihoods destroyed.

Communities subjected to a coercive environment designed to make Palestinian presence unbearable, to drive Palestinians off their land, a continuum across decades, undermining their inalienable right to self-determination.

Excellencies,

That same logic is visible in East Jerusalem, as we witness these continued actions of terror.

UN human rights experts have also warned against the irreversible “de-Palestinisation” of the city by illegal Israeli measures altering its demographic composition, religious character, and legal status.

During Eid al-Fitr and Easter, the whole world was appalled by Israeli measures restricting and even completely preventing access to the Holy Sites and obstructing the freedom of worship.

Jerusalem is a city of shared heritage.

Israel must be demanded to halt its unilateral and unlawful transformation of the City, depriving Palestinians of their historical, cultural and religious heritage and very presence in the City.

We must also speak plainly about dangerous legislative measures.

On 30 March, the Knesset passed the so-called “death penalty for terrorists” law, a discriminatory measure that risks further entrenching unequal and punitive treatment of Palestinians.

This cruel, inhumane law by the occupying Power must be repealed and Israel must respect its obligations under international law, including international humanitarian and human rights law.

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Excellencies,

Gaza, and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are not separate files.

They are one political, legal and territorial unit under brutal and unlawful Israeli occupation, and they must be addressed as such.

Gaza must not be treated as an isolated humanitarian exception, while annexation, settlement expansion and violence continue elsewhere.

Peace will not come through fragmentation.

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Excellencies,

The New York Declaration endorsed by the General Assembly remains one of the clearest diplomatic frameworks before the international community to advance a just solution to this historic injustice against the Palestinian people.

In it, peace is not an abstract aspiration, but an obligation to be fulfilled by concrete actions:

• ending the unlawful Israeli occupation,
• ending the war and siege on Gaza,
• advancing the two-State solution,
• supporting Palestinian self-determination, return, independence and statehood, and
• grounding diplomacy in international law and accountability.

This Council must therefore act swiftly and with clarity.

Protect civilians.

Reject annexation, demographic engineering and collective punishment.

Uphold the unity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory with Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.

And move with seriousness toward full implementation of the New York Declaration.

This Committee stands ready to support the international community in this urgent endeavour towards achievement of a just and comprehensive solution to the Palestine question and of long-overdue Israeli-Palestinian peace and security.

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Thank you.

Related content:

• “The situation in Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is steadily worsening”, tells the UN Assistant Secretary-General to the Security Council – Question of Palestine
• Amid a tenuous ceasefire and soaring humanitarian needs, the Security Council hears updates on transitional governance structures and reconstruction efforts in Gaza – Question of Palestine
• UN experts warn against the irreversible ‘de-Palestinisation’ of Jerusalem – Question of Palestine
• Israel’s death penalty law constitutes discriminatory regime of capital punishment: UN experts – Question of Palestine
• UN experts: state-backed terror squads at the forefront of Israel’s ethnic cleansing and annexation policy in the West Bank – Question of Palestine