Palestine

In the name of God, the Most Gracious, the Most Merciful

Mr. Philemon Yang, President of the General Assembly of the United Nations, Mr. António Guterres, Secretary-General of the United Nations, Excellencies, Heads and Members of Delegations, Distinguished guests,

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.

I come to you today while my people, for nearly a year now, have been and continue to be subjected to one of the most heinous crimes of this era — a crime of comprehensive war and genocide waged by the occupying state, Israel. This crime has claimed the lives of more than 40,000 martyrs thus far, with thousands still under the rubble, while more than 100,000 others have been wounded. Hundreds of Palestinian families have been wiped out entirely and erased from civil registries. Thousands more have lost their lives due to the spread of disease and epidemics and the lack of medicine and water, in addition to more than two million Palestinians who have been displaced from their homes multiple times in search of safety from the systematic killing carried out by the Israeli occupation army. As the aggressive war continues, dozens are killed every day, and many times that number are wounded among our afflicted people in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and Jerusalem.

I am not here today to respond to the lies of the Israeli Prime Minister in his speech before the US Congress last July, when he claimed that his army does not kill innocent civilians in Gaza. For God's sake, then who has killed more than 15,000 children and an equal number of women and elderly among our people, and continues to kill? Answer me!

Stop this crime. Stop it now. Stop the killing of children and women. Stop the war of extermination. Stop sending weapons to Israel.

This madness cannot continue. The entire world bears responsibility for what is happening to our people in Gaza, as well as in the West Bank, which is subjected to daily, continuous Israeli aggression, a fierce and savage settlement campaign, and terrorism by settler gangs sponsored and supported by the Israeli government and the occupation army, which is demolishing hundreds of homes on the land of the State of Palestine. This is in addition to what Jerusalem, our eternal capital, is being subjected to — campaigns of Judaization and aggression against the city, its holy sites, and its landmarks, aimed at changing its historical and legal status.

Recently, an extremist terrorist Israeli minister emerged calling for the construction of a synagogue within Al-Aqsa Mosque. This reckless minister and his like, who seek to ignite a religious war that would consume everything in its path, must be condemned and stopped. Al-Aqsa Mosque and its surroundings, ladies and gentlemen, are the exclusive property of Muslims, as affirmed by the League of Nations in 1930, and we will not accept anything else, whatever the circumstances.

Ladies and gentlemen,

We have warned repeatedly before your esteemed Assembly that conditions in the occupied land of the State of Palestine were signaling an impending explosion, and this explosion occurred on 7 October of last year and in what followed.

From the very first day, I stood firm and affirmed the necessity of an immediate halt to the war. I also affirmed our rejection of targeting civilians, whoever they may be, and called for the release of prisoners and detainees from both sides, and for immediate negotiations to implement the two-state solution on the basis of resolutions of international legitimacy.

Instead of the Israeli government heeding the voice of reason, it exploited what happened to wage a comprehensive war of genocide against the Gaza Strip, and has committed and continues to commit war crimes, as acknowledged by the international community. Today, Israel is waging yet another aggression against the brotherly Lebanese people, and we condemn this aggression and demand its immediate cessation.

Israel has reoccupied the entire Gaza Strip and destroyed it almost completely, rendering it uninhabitable, after destroying most of the housing, buildings, health and educational facilities, economic installations, roads, churches, mosques, water and electricity stations, wastewater treatment plants, and more. If Israel believes it will escape accountability and punishment for these crimes, it is mistaken. The international community must immediately proceed to impose sanctions on it. The massacres, crimes, and genocide that Israel has committed against our people since its establishment until this very day will not pass without reckoning, and will not lapse with time, for no right is lost as long as there is one who claims it.

Despite our urgent and repeated demands, the world has failed to compel Israel, the rogue state, to halt its war of genocide and war crimes against innocent civilians. It is regrettable that the American administration has used its veto three times to block Security Council draft resolutions demanding that Israel cease fire, and moreover has supplied it with lethal weapons that have killed thousands of innocent children, women, and elderly people — which has emboldened Israel to continue its aggression.

This is the very same United States that was the sole member of the UN Security Council to vote against granting the State of Palestine full membership in the United Nations. I do not understand how the United States insists on standing against our people, and insists on depriving them of their legitimate rights to freedom and independence.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Israel, which refuses to implement United Nations resolutions, is not worthy of membership in this international organization. Israel, whose representative in this international organization has said that this very United Nations building in which we now stand should be razed to the ground, does not deserve to be a member of your organization. From the very beginning, it never fulfilled the conditions for admission to this membership. It was required to implement General Assembly Resolutions 181 and 194 as a condition for accepting its membership, and it pledged to do so in writing but never did. I therefore call upon your esteemed Assembly to suspend Israel's membership in the General Assembly until it fulfills its obligations and the conditions of its admission, and implements all resolutions of the United Nations and its bodies. We will submit a request to the President of the General Assembly of the United Nations in this regard.

I take this opportunity today to commend the Member States of the United Nations that voted by a majority of more than two-thirds in favor of the draft resolution submitted by the State of Palestine, supported by a large number of friendly and brotherly states, to adopt the historic advisory opinion issued on 19 July 2024 by the International Court of Justice calling for the end of Israel's illegal occupation of the State of Palestine within twelve months. This includes the immediate cessation of annexation and settlement activities, the dismantling of existing settlements, the removal of settlers from Palestinian territory, the return of land and resources confiscated since 1967, reparations and compensation to Palestinians for the harm they have suffered as a result of the illegal policies and practices of the occupation, and the many other matters addressed in the Court's advisory opinion, along with obligating Israel to implement it.

We are placing great trust in this decision of yours, which embodies the international will and the principles of international law, as well as in the mechanisms adopted in this regard to ensure implementation.

Ladies and gentlemen,

I also feel grateful today as I witness this great shift in the positions of United Nations Member States, supporting the Palestinian right to obtain an independent state and to have it recognized, and granting it full membership in this international organization, as with the rest of the world's peoples who yearn for freedom and love peace. On behalf of the Palestinian people, I thank you for these supportive positions in favor of right and justice, in order to achieve peace in our region, and I call upon you to implement the provisions of international law, each according to your responsibility and sovereignty.

I also feel gratitude and appreciation for the protests opposing the war of genocide against Gaza, and supporting the Palestinian cause, which have taken place and continue to take place around the world, including in the United States and European countries, and for the honorable solidarity activists who come to Palestine risking their lives. In this context, I pay tribute to the martyred activist, the Turkish-American citizen Aysenur Eygi, who was killed in cold blood by the occupation army.

I say to these people: the Palestinian people will never forget your honorable positions, and we will remember you with pride and honor on the day the occupation ends and our people achieve freedom and independence.

Ladies and gentlemen,

There has recently been much talk about the day after the end of the war in the Gaza Strip. I take this opportunity today to present to you our vision of what is required, immediately and for the day after the war:

First: A comprehensive and permanent ceasefire in the Gaza Strip, and an end to military attacks and terrorist settler attacks in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.

Second: The urgent and regular delivery of relief assistance in sufficient quantities and without conditions, reaching all areas of the Gaza Strip.

Third: Complete Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip, rejection of the establishment of buffer zones or the carving off of any part of its territory, cessation of forced displacement measures within or outside the Gaza Strip, and the return of the displaced to their areas of residence with provision of shelter for them.

Fourth: Protection of UNRWA and humanitarian organizations from Israeli arbitrary measures, and the provision of political and material support to enable them to fulfill their role and provide their services to Palestinian refugees until their return to their homes.

Fifth: Provision of international protection for Palestinians on the land of their occupied state.

Sixth: The State of Palestine assuming its responsibilities in the Strip to exercise its full jurisdiction over it, including the border crossings, foremost among them the Rafah international crossing between Egypt and Palestine, as part of a comprehensive plan.

Seventh: Within the framework of the comprehensive national reform process, we will rebuild the infrastructure and state institutions destroyed by Israel, revive the economy, pursue sustainable development, and reconstruct the Gaza Strip, holding the occupying state responsible for this.

Eighth: The extension of the authority of the State of Palestine, the Palestinian government, and the Palestine Liberation Organization — the sole and legitimate representative of the Palestinian people — over all Palestinian territory in the Gaza Strip, the West Bank, and East Jerusalem, as a prelude to holding general presidential and legislative elections there, and the formation of a Palestinian government in accordance with the results of these elections.

Ninth: Continuing to mobilize the greatest possible international support for the State of Palestine to obtain full membership in the United Nations as soon as possible.

Tenth: Full implementation of the General Assembly resolution concerning the legal advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice, leading to the end of the occupation within twelve months.

Eleventh: The convening of an international peace conference under UN auspices within one year to implement the two-state solution and give concrete form to the independence of the Palestinian state on the borders of 4 June 1967, with East Jerusalem as its capital, and the return of Palestinian refugees, on the basis of international law, resolutions of international legitimacy, and the Arab Peace Initiative.

Twelfth: The deployment of international peacekeeping forces by a Security Council resolution between the State of Palestine and Israel, to guarantee the security of both states.

These are the elements of our vision for today and for the day after the war on the land of the State of Palestine in general. I appeal to you to adopt this plan and to provide all the necessary means to make it succeed.

Ladies and gentlemen,

Several weeks ago, I announced that I had decided to head to the Gaza Strip at the head of the Palestinian leadership, to be with our people who have been exhausted by the Israeli war of genocide. I appeal to you to support this decision of ours by issuing a UN resolution in this regard from the United Nations, and to pressure the occupation government so that it does not obstruct our endeavor. I welcome any of you who wish to join us in going to steadfast, patient Gaza, to bear witness to the crime that has been committed against it, and to contribute to achieving peace and stability.

I offer a salute of reverence and honor to our heroic people, who give everything precious and dear for the sake of Palestine — in Gaza of sacrifice, the steadfast West Bank, and Jerusalem, the jewel of the crown and capital of the state — and to our people in refugee and diaspora camps, and to our valiant prisoners in Israeli jails, who today are subjected to a flagrant violation of their human dignity.

Palestine will be liberated, and our people will continue their life on the land of their forefathers and ancestors as they have done for more than six thousand years, and will continue their legitimate struggle for independence, and the occupation will inevitably come to an end.

Glory and eternity to our righteous martyrs.

Long live free and dignified Palestine.

Peace, mercy, and blessings of God be upon you.