Palestinian ambassador to the UN Riyad Mansour has said that the failure to hold Israel “the occupying power” accountable for its grave violations of the international law has made it defy the UN Security Council and the will of the international community without facing any consequences.
This came in identical letters sent recently to the UN Secretary-General and the chairmen of the Security Council and the General Assembly about the deteriorating situation resulting from Israel’s violations in the occupied Palestinian territories including Jerusalem.
Ambassador Mansour highlighted the importance of ensuring accountability for all Israeli violations and utilizing all available diplomatic political and legal means and mechanisms to confirm the international law as a source of jurisdiction over the Palestinian question.
The ambassador stressed the need for translating international statements and positions into actions expressing his dismay and regret that “decades of international inaction has given Israel a license to do whatever it likes with impunity — even committing crimes without consequences.”
He pointed out that “the recent period has seen a noticeable escalation in settler violence house demolition forced displacement detention and killing of Palestinian civilians including children.”
He accused Israel of exploiting the international community’s preoccupation with the efforts to fight the COVID-19 pandemic to further consolidate its illegal occupation describing the unjust reality imposed by the so-called sole democracy in the occupied Palestinian territories as “apartheid.”
