NEW YORK (Dispatches) – United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres says that the Zionist regime’s violations of Palestinian human rights and the illegal settlements erode the chances of “peace”, Wafa news agency reported.
Marking the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People, Guterres said: “The situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory – including East Jerusalem (Al-Quds) continues to pose a significant challenge to international peace and security.”
Guterres stressed that “persistent violations of the rights of Palestinians along with the expansion of settlements risk eroding the prospect” a solution.
The UN chief also said, “I further call on the parties to engage constructively to end the closure of Gaza and improve the living conditions of all Palestinians under occupation.”
A day earlier, an influential watchdog body of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation called for an end to the Zionist regime’s occupation of Palestine as the only way to stop ongoing human rights abuses against Palestinians.
The OIC’s Independent Permanent Human Rights Commission made its appeal on Monday to coincide with the UN-run International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People 2021.
In a statement, the IPHRC pointed out that the solidarity day highlighted the urgent need for the global community to recognize the inalienable right to self-determination of Palestinian people.
“Today is not only an opportunity for the international community to remember that the question of Palestine remains unresolved, but it is also an opportunity to focus attention on the increasing suffering of the Palestinian people, under the Israeli occupation, and to unify all efforts for assisting them to attain their fundamental rights, including the right to self-determination and the right to return for Palestinian refugees to their homes and property, from which they have been displaced,” the commission said.