Palestine must not be marginalized on international agenda, UN Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour tells Arab News

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Updated 22 September 2023
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Palestine must not be marginalized on international agenda, UN Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour tells Arab News

Palestine must not be marginalized on international agenda, UN Permanent Observer Riyad Mansour tells Arab News
  • Amid violence in the West Bank, Mansour says Palestinians are turning to international courts to seek justice
  • Mansour says the international community is not yet bold enough to implement resolutions on Palestine

NEW YORK CITY: Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s permanent observer to the UN, outlined the key priorities and challenges facing the Palestinian cause in a wide-ranging interview with Arab News on the sidelines of the ongoing 78th session of the UN General Assembly. 

Mansour discussed Palestine’s efforts to update UN resolutions, navigate the International Court of Justice, address the crisis facing the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, and contend with escalating violence. 

He said “a ton of work” remains to be done, all geared toward having a political horizon and putting an end to Palestinian suffering at the hands of “those who keep telling us: ‘You just have to wait and wait and wait.’”

Mansour told Arab News: “The Palestinian people are fed up and frustrated and angry that they’ve been waiting for way too long, and the situation is moving from bad to worse.

“Something has to happen and a process needs to start that will end this occupation as quickly as possible and allow the Palestinian people to enjoy the independence of their own state, (based) on the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital.”




Mansour said the Palestinians were also appealing to the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against humanity. (FILE/AFP)

Palestine’s top priority at this year’s General Assembly is to ensure UN resolutions related to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict are updated to reflect new realities and developments that have occurred over the past year. 

Mansour emphasized the importance of keeping the Palestinian issue on the international agenda, especially in light of what he called “the obsession with what is really happening in Ukraine.” 

He said: “In the atmosphere of Ukraine, (it is important) to remain relevant and (keep) your issue alive and on the table and to succeed in receiving more votes.”

He underscored the need to maintain and increase the number of votes in favor of Palestinian resolutions, as traditionally, Palestine has received overwhelming support from member states.

There are also efforts underway to push for the implementation of these resolutions, which as Mansour said, contain all the elements that would allow for a just and comprehensive solution to the conflict. 

“(When) there are sides that are shielding Israel from accountability and the consequences of getting away with not implementing (international) resolutions, then we look for additional ways of trying to maximize the pressure,” said Mansour. 

“One of these ways is seeking legal options.” 

The ICJ earlier this year had accepted a request from the UN for an advisory opinion on the legal consequences arising from the policies and practices of Israel in the occupied territories. 

The opinion could potentially lead to accountability for war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people.

Mansour said the ICJ, the world’s top court, is a crucial avenue for pressuring the Israeli occupying authorities to comply with international law and UN resolutions. 




19-year-old Palestinian Qusai Jamal Maatan was shot by Israelis on Aug. 4. (FILE/AFP)

In August, the ICJ confirmed that 58 written statements from various countries have been filed in the court’s registry. 

Mansour said the Palestinians were also appealing to the International Criminal Court to investigate possible crimes against humanity.

“We are pushing the ICC to begin official investigations of war crimes and crimes against humanity committed against the Palestinian people,” he said, citing the “crime of settlement” and the “horrific aggression” of repeated incursions into Palestinian territory, such as in the Gaza Strip in 2014.  

Palestinians are also asking the ICC to “deal with the illegal policies and practices committed by Israel,” such as home demolition and annexation, Mansour said, referencing the proposed annexation of Area C, “which constitutes a significant portion of the land of the occupied West Bank.”

He added: “All these practices and policies (fall) under the title of annexation and Judaization of the occupied Palestinian territory. 

“And finally, as we (mentioned in) those questions that we asked (the ICJ), there was, during the last 20 years, (an) intensification of plans to put in place systems of discrimination. 

“We did not use the word of apartheid, but there is enough documentation and reports from Amnesty International, Human Rights Watch, B’Tselem, Al-Haq and others who have documented and argued in very sophisticated and convincing legal ways of the reality of apartheid that our people are living under.”

Lastly, Mansour said, Palestinians hope the court will determine what the legal consequences are for the Israeli occupation, “including the prolonged occupation itself, since occupations are supposed to be of a temporary nature and … many legal scholars consider it as being illegal because it moves from being temporary and to being annexation.”




The Israeli army demolished the house of Abdel Fatah Khroushah accused of an attack which killed two Israelis in the occupied West Bank at the end of February. (FILE/AFP)

Referring to the recent surge in violence, Mansour attributed the escalation to the Israeli government’s push for annexation and its implementation of plans in the occupied territories, particularly the West Bank and East Jerusalem, with extremist elements within the Israeli government advocating for the exclusion of Palestinians.

More than 200 Palestinians and nearly 30 Israelis have been killed so far this year in the occupied West Bank and Israel — a level of violence surpassing last year’s entire death toll and the highest number of fatalities since 2005, Tor Wennesland, the UN’s Middle East envoy, told the UN Security Council in August. 

Mansour said the current Israeli government is “in a hurry to expedite the process of annexation. They want to literally take most of the West Bank and East Jerusalem and make it exclusively for the Jewish settlers.”

He added: “They are pushing the Palestinian people to the wall, and people are taking issues into their (own) hands in order to protect themselves, to protect their families and to fight against this plan of annihilation.”

One of the main issues discussed at the UN this week is the new, emerging multipolar world order, where, as UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres put it, “power is diffuse,” and more and more countries are having a say in international matters. 

Despite the challenges posed by the world’s changing geopolitical dynamics, Mansour stressed the need to maintain the focus on Palestine’s plight to ensure that it is not marginalized.




In Palestine’s message to world leaders at the 78th UN General Assembly session, Mansour highlighted the immediate priorities of ending aggression, achieving financial stability, and gaining international recognition for the State of Palestine. (FILE/AFP)

He highlighted his efforts to keep the Palestine question prominent at the UN, including frequent discussions in the Security Council and successful resolutions related to Palestine, such as the “historic” resolution acknowledging the Nakba, and Palestinians’ engagement with the ICJ. 

“Many people thought that the Palestine question would be (brushed) under the rug,” said Mansour. “It’s our duty to expose the double standards and not allow our question to be the victim of the new realities.” 

While Israel “does not want the UN (to) even mention the question of Palestine,” Mansour said he was “delighted that to a great extent the international community does not accept this kind of behavior.”

However, he lamented that the international community “is not yet bold enough to say that we’ve adopted resolutions and they need to be implemented.”

He said: “If you don’t implement them, there will be consequences because it is required from all member states (to) honor and respect (the) principles enshrined in the (UN) Charter and the resolutions adopted by the Security Council and the General Assembly.”

In Palestine’s message to world leaders at the 78th UN General Assembly session, Mansour highlighted the immediate priorities of ending aggression, achieving financial stability, and gaining international recognition for the State of Palestine. 

He also stressed the need to “actualize the global consensus on the two-state solution to become a reality,” and for a collective political process that would lead “in a relatively short period of time” to the end of the occupation.


Turkish-Israeli ties to be tested after latest row over Hamas

Turkish-Israeli ties to be tested after latest row over Hamas
Updated 8 sec ago
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Turkish-Israeli ties to be tested after latest row over Hamas

Turkish-Israeli ties to be tested after latest row over Hamas
  • Ankara’s partnership with Palestinians is ideological rather than practical military cooperation, analyst says
  • Bilateral ties have never been immune from global or regional actors, another analyst tells Arab News

ANKARA: Following Israeli security chief Ronen Bar’s pledge to pursue Hamas leaders overseas, all eyes are now on Turkiye to gauge whether this development will further escalate tension in relations between the two countries.

In a recording released by Israel’s public broadcaster Kan on Sunday, Bar, the head of Israel’s domestic security agency Shin Bet, stated that Israel intends to wipe out Hamas leaders in Qatar, Lebanon, and Turkiye.

“This is our Munich. It will take a few years, but we will be there to do it,” he remarked, alluding to the 1972 attack where Palestinian Black September gunmen killed 11 Israeli Olympic team members during the Munich games.

Israel subsequently carried out retaliatory operations against Black September operatives in different countries over a number of years.

The contents of the recording of Bar garnered disapproval in Ankara, with state-run Anadolu Agency reporting that Israeli authorities have been informed of the serious consequences that “illegal operations on Turkish territory would generate.”

The development comes against the trend of diplomatic reconciliation between Turkiye and Israel, based largely on the close collaboration between the intelligence agencies of both nations.

This cooperation successfully prevented several attacks targeting Israeli citizens in Turkiye.

Additionally, Turkiye disclosed that Israeli spy networks had operated in the country, gathering intelligence on resident Palestinians.

Turkiye reportedly requested that all Hamas political leaders leave the country on Oct. 7, following the attack by the group on Israel, although the Turkish presidency refuted this claim.

The Hamas officials who had been residing in Turkiye allegedly arrived there after the 2011 Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange.

Top Hamas officials, including Ismail Haniyeh, have also openly visited Turkiye and stayed in Istanbul over the years.

On Wednesday Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan warned that Turkiye would not tolerate Israeli security operations on its soil and cautioned that it could severely impact bilateral relations.

“If Israel dares to take such a step on Turkish soil, it will pay such a great price that it will not be able to recover from it,” he said.

In recent days, Erdogan harshly criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and labeled him a “war criminal” and “the butcher of Gaza” — remarks that were quickly countered by Israeli Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, who directly addressed the English account of the Turkish presidency, and said: “You are welcome to host in your country Hamas terrorists who aren’t eliminated and flee from Gaza.”

Gokhan Cinkara, political analyst and founder of the Ankara Center for Global Politics, believes Turkiye’s ties with the Hamas leadership resulted from a foreign policy trend shaped during the Arab Spring.

“The success of Hamas in the 2006 Palestinian elections pushed many actors, especially the US, to communicate with them. However, subsequent developments, especially after the exclusion of Al-Fatah in Gaza and the loss of influence of the Arab Spring, led to their exclusion by regional actors,” he told Arab News.

Cinkara thinks that Turkiye’s NATO membership and its significant regional power would discourage Israel from making concrete moves on Turkish soil.

According to Betul Dogan-Akkas, assistant professor of international relations at the department of international relations at Ankara University, Turkish-Israeli ties have fluctuated for decades, and have never been immune from global or regional actors.

“Although Qatar and Turkiye are also mentioned in Bet’s statements, I don’t see this scenario as a realistic or preferable act for Israel. The weakest angle here is Lebanon. Neither Qatar nor Turkiye will keep their reaction low once an Israeli operation on their soil threatens their domestic security,” Dogan-Akkas told Arab News.

“Regarding the situation of Qatar, this could even destroy its mediatorship role and will just push it further into the Palestinian resistance,” she added.

“Regarding the case of Turkiye, we don’t have solid and public information about the names of leaders residing in Istanbul, yet it is a de facto situation that there are Hamas members or political elites from Hamas in Turkiye. These names are not from the military sphere as Turkiye’s partnership with Hamas is based on an ideological level rather than a practical military cooperation, as is the case with Iran,” Dogan-Akkas said.

Experts caution about the potential effect of any Israeli attack on the countries where Hamas members reside, which could turn the ongoing war into a regional conflict.

“This does not mean that these countries will quickly declare war on Israel, but this will destroy a rapid ceasefire or attempts to find a solution in Gaza,” Dogan-Akkas said.

However, it is still unclear what was the underlying intention behind Bar’s words and experts remain skeptical about whether Turkiye will change its policy on Hamas.

Cinkara does not expect any change in Turkiye’s relations with Hamas for the time being under current regional circumstances.

But for Dogan-Akkas, Bar’s words were a tactical move to show the world Israel’s intelligence superiority, especially as an answer to ongoing criticisms about failures over the Oct. 7 attack.

“They could take some Hamas hostages abroad, but this won’t be from Istanbul or Doha. In the meantime, I don’t think President Erdogan will completely deport Hamas-affiliated political figures because they are already low profile; they don’t go public except their small communities,” she said.

 


Egypt’s foreign minister looks to build on strategic relationship with US

Rep. Michael McCaul. (REUTERS)
Rep. Michael McCaul. (REUTERS)
Updated 16 min 56 sec ago
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Egypt’s foreign minister looks to build on strategic relationship with US

Rep. Michael McCaul. (REUTERS)
  • McCaul praised Egypt’s efforts to boost regional security and stability and expressed his full support for strengthening Egypt-US relations

CAIRO: Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry has met Michael McCaul, the US Republican representative who chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee, during his visit to the US.

Shoukry spoke of Egypt’s desire to increase coordination and consultation between the two countries while building on their strategic relationship and partnership.

He looked at the significant developments that Egypt has witnessed over the years in economic and social policy.

He said that Egypt’s foreign policy was based on the need for regional peace, security, and good relations with neighboring states.

Consultations focused on international and regional issues and crises, including Gaza, Libya, Sudan, and the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, with the foreign minister highlighting the key aspects of Egypt’s stance on the matters.

He spoke of Egypt’s opposition to any attempt to forcibly displace Palestinian citizens from inside or outside their lands, and the importance of an immediate ceasefire in Gaza to protect civilians.

McCaul praised Egypt’s efforts to boost regional security and stability and expressed his full support for strengthening Egypt-US relations.

Shoukry also met Sen. Ben Cardin, the chair of the US Senate Committee on Foreign Relations.

The meeting looked at the situation in Gaza and Shoukry emphasized the need for increased international efforts to establish a sustainable ceasefire and protect civilians.

He reaffirmed Egypt’s rejection of forcibly displacing Palestinian citizens, while stressing the need to remove obstacles that prevented humanitarian aid from entering the Gaza Strip.

Cardin praised the Egyptian role in the region, thanking Egypt for providing humanitarian aid and contributing to the previous truce in Gaza.

 


Israeli bombing injures students at educational institute in southern Lebanon

Israeli bombing injures students at educational institute in southern Lebanon
Updated 24 min 26 sec ago
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Israeli bombing injures students at educational institute in southern Lebanon

Israeli bombing injures students at educational institute in southern Lebanon
  • Lebanon’s PM slams Israeli attacks as religious leader claims Israel-Hamas war violates all humanitarian laws

BEIRUT: Several students were left injured after Israeli shelling on Thursday struck an educational institution in the southern Lebanese town of Qunin.

The attack came amid ongoing border exchanges between the Israeli army and Hezbollah.

Qunin, in Lebanon’s Bint Jbeil district, is 120 km from Beirut but not directly on the border. It was hit by a series of explosions, and videos posted on social media showed rockets landing in the town and residents running for safety.

Witnesses claimed smoke bombs were followed by artillery shelling.

The Israeli army said that Israeli Air Force fighter jets “hit a series of targets for Hezbollah on Lebanese territory, including terrorist infrastructure, missile launch sites, and Hezbollah’s military outposts.

“A number of shootings were spotted from Lebanese territory toward Israeli territory earlier in the day, prompting the army to attack the sources of the shooting.”

Lebanese Caretaker Prime Minister Najib Mikati said: “The Israeli criminality is unlimited, and this is what we are witnessing in the Gaza Strip and southern Lebanon.”

Mikati’s statement came as part of his comments on the results of an investigation conducted by global media institutions, which held Israel accountable for targeting a group of journalists in southern Lebanon on Oct. 13, killing Reuters photographer Issam Abdallah, and wounding six others.

On Thursday morning, the outskirts of the towns of Hula, Markaba, Alma Al-Shaab, Tayr Harfa, Al-Dhahira, and Majdel Selm were also the target of Israeli artillery shelling.

And one person was taken to Marjayoun Governmental Hospital for treatment to injuries following Israeli bombing of Hamams Hill in Sarda. Other areas targeted included Wadi Saluki, Wadi Hamul, Ramyah, Bayt Lif, and the outskirts of the predominantly Christian border town of Rmeish.

The Israeli army reportedly fired six phosphorus shells toward Wadi Qatamoun while Lebanon’s Maronite Patriarch Bechara Boutros Al-Rahi was touring the south of the country.

During stops at two churches in Tyre, Al-Rahi said: “This solidarity visit, in light of the difficult circumstances, is a humanitarian duty in the face of the horrors of what is happening, and it is for the sake of peace, especially since this region is paying the price of war.

“This war is devastating, not only in Gaza, but it is a war outside all civilization and humanitarian laws.

“We came to declare that without peace, there is no life, and every human has a role, and we refuse to distort humanity’s role.

“We want to stand against hatred, malice, and hostility, as we are brothers. This is the true Lebanese culture and the true ecclesiastical spiritual culture.

“In our spiritual and Lebanese culture, we do not accept that the Palestinian cause be erased in a moment, but we strive for permanent peace.

“The two-state solution is required, and it is what achieves peace, and we will work to be peacemakers.

“In Lebanon, we stand firm in our unity, and we know that our enemy always aspires to annex lands from Lebanon, and this has been its ambition for a long time.

“We are witnessing a war of extermination, with no mercy, and we cannot watch the destruction of a people.

“It is a programmed, destructive war. There are voices worldwide, but they do not result in stances that alleviate people’s suffering. The Palestinian people have the right to decide their fate,” Al-Rahi added.

Officials from the Disaster Risk Management Unit in the Union of Tyre Municipalities said 20,000 newly displaced people from southern villages had been registered as of Wednesday and housed in five shelter centers in Tyre, adding that hundreds of other displaced people had not yet registered with the unit.

Unit managers noted they were being hampered in their work by a lack of available resources, especially as around 40 villages in the border area were unsafe for civilians.

Hezbollah continued to target Israeli military outposts on Thursday.

In a statement, the militant group said: “The vicinity of the Branit outpost was hit by a guided missile and many ambulances for the Israeli enemy were spotted moving in the area.”

Hezbollah added that it also targeted, “the site of Al-Marj, the Ramim forest, and the Mitat barracks with appropriate weapons, achieving direct hits, as well as the site of Ma’ayan Baruch with appropriate weapons, causing direct hits.”

 


Egypt’s foreign minister, UN chief discuss need for permanent Gaza ceasefire

Egypt’s foreign minister, UN chief discuss need for permanent Gaza ceasefire
Updated 07 December 2023
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Egypt’s foreign minister, UN chief discuss need for permanent Gaza ceasefire

Egypt’s foreign minister, UN chief discuss need for permanent Gaza ceasefire
  • Sameh Shoukry lauds key role adopted by Antonio Guterres in dealing with crisis in Palestine
  • Guterres and Shoukry discussed the deteriorating humanitarian and security situations in the Strip and diplomatic moves to restore a truce

CAIRO: Egyptian Minister of Foreign Affairs Sameh Shoukry has praised UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ handling of the crisis in Gaza.

Condemning any attempts to forcibly displace Palestinians, the minister told the UN chief that Cairo was keen to coordinate efforts to bring about a permanent ceasefire in the Israel-Hamas war.

In a phone call from Guterres to Shoukry, the officials discussed the deteriorating humanitarian and security situations in the Strip and diplomatic moves to restore a truce.

Egyptian Ministry of Foreign Affairs spokesman, Ahmed Abu Zaid, said Shoukry highlighted Egypt’s ongoing liaison with international parties and Arab and Muslim groups at the UN to find ways to end the conflict, and he noted the importance of applying Security Council and General Assembly resolutions.

Guterres thanked Cairo for its help in dealing with the crisis and its efforts to get vital aid deliveries through to the Palestinian people.


Houthis vow to continue blocking Red Sea for Israeli ships

Houthis vow to continue blocking Red Sea for Israeli ships
Updated 07 December 2023
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Houthis vow to continue blocking Red Sea for Israeli ships

Houthis vow to continue blocking Red Sea for Israeli ships
  • Houthi Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Al-Atefi said that the militia would continue to block the Red Sea to ships owned or operated by Israel
  • US envoy discusses militia threats to international commercial traffic and peace efforts with key Yemen official

AL-MUKALLA: The Houthis have threatened again to launch missile and drone strikes against Israeli ships traversing the Red Sea as well as Israel itself, amid mounting international pressure on the Yemeni militia. 

Houthi Defense Minister Mohammed Nasser Al-Atefi said on Wednesday that the militia would continue to block the Red Sea for ships owned or operated by Israel and would fire ballistic missiles and drones at Israel, defying international calls for the militia to stop threatening maritime navigation in the Red Sea.

“In support of our people in Gaza, the navy, missile, and drone forces are ready to conduct the toughest individual and collective attacks on fixed or moving targets in Israel,” Al-Atefi said while addressing a group of military and security officers, as well as media, aboard the seized cargo ship Galaxy Leader.

Al-Atefi’s warnings came as the militia’s military declared the firing of a number of ballistic missiles targeting military sites in Eilat, south of Israel.

Since the beginning of this month, the Houthis have fired drones and ballistic missiles toward Israel and commercial ships in the Red Sea in response to Israel’s assault in Gaza.

Several drones and missiles were intercepted over the Red Sea by US Navy ships. 

The Houthis seized the Israeli-linked cargo ship Galaxy Leader from the Red Sea on Nov. 19 and diverted it to the shore of Yemen’s Hodeidah. 

The militia transformed the seized ship into a tourist attraction, allowing visitors to board for 500 Yemeni riyals (almost a dollar in Houthi cities).

People were seen wandering around the ship, dancing in groups, and chewing the hobby qat leaves, according to social media influencers.

Images on social media showed tiny boats transporting passengers from Hodeidah’s shoreline to the ship.

Others were spotted snapping pictures and waving Palestinian and Yemeni flags.

The slogans of the Houthis were displayed on the ship.

“The ship is available to everybody for 500 riyals. Life is great here since one may chew (qat), alter his mood, smoke shisha, and even earn a livelihood,” Mustafa Al-Maouri, a Yemeni online influencer who was kidnapped by the Houthis and placed on trial earlier this year, said on the ship’s top deck.

Meanwhile, Tim Lenderking, US Yemen envoy, met with Aidarous Al-Zubeidi, deputy president of Yemen’s Presidential Transitional Council, in Dubai on Thursday to discuss Houthi threats to international commercial traffic in the Red Sea and peace efforts to end the conflict in Yemen.

“We discussed the urgent maritime security concerns and challenges in the Red Sea and Bab Al-Mandab considering the recent escalation by the Houthis and reviewed together the latest updates regarding the UN-led political peace process to end the war in #Yemen,” Al-Zubeidi said on the social media platform X.

The US Department of State said that Lenderking traveled to the region on Monday to push for a peaceful resolution to the Yemen crisis and to discuss with US partners measures to maintain the safety of international commerce.