At General Assembly debate, States hail Israeli withdrawal from Gaza, urge more action
Israel's recent withdrawal from Gaza was hailed today in the United Nations General Assembly by a number of speakers who also called for further action to restore Palestinian rights and achieve peace in the Middle East.
Bahrain's Foreign Minister, Shaikh Mohammed Bin Mubarak Al-Khalifa, said this year has opened a path that might lead to an opportunity for peace in the Middle East, through positive internal developments on the Palestinian side, and the Arab and international support for its new leadership of President Mahmoud Abbas and his moves towards achieving peace, reducing tension, and promoting democracy. "We welcome the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, and hope that this withdrawal will be a significant step towards a just and comprehensive peace in the area, and that this withdrawal should be a part of the Roadmap plan."
The achievement of security, stability and peace in the Middle East requires an end to the Israeli occupation of all Arab territories and the full implementation of all relevant UN resolutions, he said. "A just and comprehensive peace cannot be achieved except through the end of Israeli occupation of Arab territories since 1967, including the Golan Heights and Lebanese lands, the return of Palestinian refugees and the establishment of a Palestinian state with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital."
The Minister for Foreign Affairs of the United Arab Emirates, Rashid Abdullah Al-Noaimi, welcomed Israel's withdrawal from Gaza and some parts in the northern West Bank and voiced hope that the international community would urge Israel "to complete its withdrawal from the Arab and Palestinian territories occupied since 1967, including the Syrian Golan and the Lebanese Shabaa farms, to dismantle the separation wall, and to discontinue its settlement activities in accordance with the international legitimate resolutions, the Arab Peace initiative which is based on peace for land and the roadmap."
He also called on the international community to strengthen its support to the Palestinian authority and assist it in rebuilding its national institutions and restoring its natural and economic resources. In addition, he said Israel should accede to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and subject its nuclear facilities to the supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Abdelwaheb Abdallah, the Foreign Minister of Tunisia, called on all parties to the conflict in the Middle East, as well as the diplomatic Quartet, "to take advantage of the recent positive developments witnessed in the region in order to resume the peace negotiations, which will allow the brotherly Palestinian people to recover its legitimate national rights and establish its independent state on its land, and will provide security, stability and prosperity for all the peoples of the region."
He stressed that achieving fair, comprehensive and durable peace in the Middle East region requires Syria and Lebanon to regain control of all their occupied territories.
Emile Lahoud, the President of Lebanon, said the immediate implementation of Security Council resolutions, as well as UN resolution 194, that affirms the "right of return" of the Palestinian refugees to their lands confiscated by Israel and prevents the resettlement of the uprooted Palestinians in their host countries, "remains the only way to diffuse and to dry up the wells of extremism," he said. He also decried the "daily Israeli violations of Lebanon's territorial integrity, and aggressions against the People of South Lebanon" and commended the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) for its work in the area.
The assassination of Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri constituted the hardest blow to Lebanon in its modern history, he said. "As we look forward for a timely and prompt disclosure of the International Inquiry Commission's results into the investigation of this heinous act, we thank the Security Council for consenting with Lebanon's request to appoint such a Commission," he said, pledging to provide all necessary support "to prosecute the culprits to the full extent of the law."