GCC States urge global action to save Palestinian lives

In a session held by the UN Security Council on the situation in the Middle East, the GCC states urged the international community to take concrete measures to maintain security and peace and spare the lives of innocent Palestinians.

The GCC states called for a permanent, comprehensive and fair solution to the Palestinian issue, based on international law and resolutions issued by the Security Council, most notably Resolutions No. 242 and 338.

Delivering a statement on behalf of GCC states at the UN headquarters, Dr Mohamed bin Awad Alhassan, Oman's Permanent Representative to the United Nations (UN), said that the current confrontation in the occupied Palestinian territories is not new and that the outcome is victims on both sides, instability and a lack of security.

“The cause of this (confrontation) is the application of double standards which encouraged Israel to pursue its massacres against the Palestinian people,” he said.

He said that the GCC states stress the necessity of reaching an immediate ceasefire and allowing relief teams and humanitarian agencies to enter Gaza Strip safely and unconditionally.

On behalf of the GCC states, Oman's Permanent Representative urged the Security Council to proclaim a “clear position” against the use of starvation and the cutting of power and water as a means of war.

He also urged the international community to stand by international law by lifting the siege on the Gaza Strip, opening border crossings and protecting workers belonging to humanitarian organisations and medical teams.

He said this was needed to allow relief workers to play their role, notably those who operate under authority of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

This is an unofficial English version of an Arabic report. To view the official Arabic text, click here.