Kuwait- OIC urges UNSC to end Israeli occupation

(MENAFN- Kuwait News Agency (KUNA)) NEW YORK Nov 24 (KUNA) -- Kuwait's Permanent Representative to the UN Ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi called on the Security Council to act immediately to set a "well-defined timeframe" for ending the Israeli occupation with international guarantees and binding implementation mechanisms.Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People Ambassador Al-Otaibi spoke before the General Assembly on behalf of the Member States of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC).Al-Otaibi noted that the recent escalation comes as an extension of the ongoing Israeli aggressions against Christian and Islamic holy sites in East Jerusalem especially Al-Haram Al-Sharif which houses the Holy Al-Aqsa Mosque."We have warned on several occasions that the crimes and aggressions by Israel the occupying Power and its settlers and extremists against the holy sites in Jerusalem could spark a religious war" he said.Israel he added alone would bear the responsibility of its consequences and must be averted by all means.The OIC condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the Israeli aggression especially the policy of execution and deliberate murder carried out by the Israeli occupation forces and extremist Israeli settlers against "defenseless" Palestinian civilians including children.Al-Otaibi also condemned in his speech the Israel persistence with its settlement policy especially in Occupied East Jerusalem which clearly aims at illegally altering the demographic composition character and status of the Occupied Palestinian Territory. In addition such policy creates de facto realities that would make the two-State solution impossible to achieve he said.Further the OIC condemned the Israeli -eighth year- blockade of the Gaza Strip and called for an end to this "inhumane massive collective punishment" of the Palestinian people.Kuwait the Chair of the OIC emphasized that failure to find a just solution to the question of Palestine which is the core of the Middle East conflict will only exacerbate the already unstable regional situation. Therefore the Kuwaiti Officials stressed that the UN has a permanent responsibility towards the question of Palestine until it is justly resolved in all aspects.In the absence of a just solution Al-Otaibi affirmed that the UN must continue to ensure the necessary assistance to the Palestinian people including the 5.5 million(plus) Palestine refugees registered with UNRWA and must continue to demand that international humanitarian law and other relevant international mechanisms for the protection of civilians in situations of armed conflicts be fully upheld in Palestine.Representing the top body the Deputy Secretary General Jan Eliasson said that more than one year since the last ruinous conflict in Gaza security and hope in Gaza and in the occupied West Bank including East Jerusalem remain at a very low point.Eliasson condemned the recent stabbings shootings and other attacks that have caused immense suffering among Israelis and Palestinians alike and said that it is "abundantly clear that Palestinians feel deep frustration over an occupation that has lasted nearly fifty years." The lack of a political horizon to achieve the two-State solution seriously increases the risk of the situation spiraling out of control he added. (end) mao.gb