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22:35 GMT
KUWAIT, April 22 (KUNA) -- The State of Kuwait called on Thursday for enforcing political and legal action against Israel, and holding it accountable for relentless violations against the Palestinian people.
While the international community is busy fighting Covid-19, "Israel, the occupying power, continues its hostile policies against the Palestinian people to remind us it will not retreat from plans to annex more Palestinian territories in the West Bank and East Jerusalem," Permanent representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi said.
In a statement to a UN Security Council session over the Palestinian issue, Al-Otaibi said Israeli policies were forcing occupation through illegal activities and policies including expansion and construction of thousands of Jewish housing units, and annexation of lands in clear violations of UN Security Council resolutions, namely resolution 2334.
All recent UN reports, he said, confirmed deterioration of conditions in Palestinian territories due to the rising construction of thousands of illegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank including in East Jerusalem.
"What concerns us as well is that while Israeli authorities give green light for construction of illegal settlements there are violent acts committed by Israeli settlers and Israeli security forces against unarmed Palestinian people, as well as destruction of buildings and properties whether they were Palestinian or built through donations from the international community like schools and health facilities," he said.
Al-Otaibi described the Israeli actions as "new war crimes" added to Israel's hostilities against the Palestinian people.
The Israeli occupation seeks to abort any chance and hope towards establishment of the independent and viable Palestinian state, he said.
The international community must act to put an end to the Israeli arrests, destruction or confiscation of Palestinian buildings and forced displacement, said Al-Otaibi, in addition to the 13-year-old siege on Gaza Strip.
He said Kuwait believed peace was the strategic choice in the Middle East which would lead to the two-state solution in line with relevant UNSC resolutions, land-for-peace principle and Arab peace initiative, paving way for an independent Palestinian state with East Jerusalem as its capital. (end)
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