New York, Sept. 22 (Petra) The general debate of the 81st session of the United Nations General Assembly opened in New York on Tuesday, with 195 heads of state, heads of government and high-level officials in attendance.
UN Secretary-General António Guterres urged against overlooking the "tragic situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory" amid the turmoil gripping the Middle East.
In his address opening the session's general debate, Guterres said the aftermath of the October 7, 2023, attack "was a massive assault on the Palestinians in Gaza, characterised by a scale of killing and destruction the likes of which I have never witnessed during my years as UN Secretary-General." He added that the International Court of Justice had issued legally binding provisional measures in the case concerning the "Application of the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide in the Gaza Strip." He pointed out that, in an advisory opinion issued last year, the Court affirmed the necessity of allowing the United Nations to carry out its functions in Gaza and ensuring the protection of its staff and humanitarian workers.
Guterres stressed the imperative for all parties to comply with international law and the Court's orders.
He said that "acts of violence, displacement and settlement expansion in the occupied West Bank undermine the path to peace and raise the specter of ethnic cleansing," adding, "we cannot allow the two-state solution to vanish before our eyes." This is an ongoing story. //Petra// AK
