The United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East Affairs, Khaled Khiari, called on the international community to reject attempts to establish illegal Israeli settlements in the Gaza Strip.
“Any attempt to establish settlements in Gaza must be firmly rejected. There must be no attempt to reduce or annex the territory of Gaza in whole or in part,” Khiari said.
His remarks were made during a UN Security Council session in New York, part of the council’s monthly meeting on the situation in the occupied Palestinian territories and its regular discussion on the implementation of Security Council Resolution 2334, which addresses the illegality of Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Khiari underlined the urgency of the international community to “provide immediate support to the Palestinian Government to address its fiscal challenges, strengthen its governance capacity and prepare it to reassume its responsibilities in Gaza.”
He further stressed the importance of establishing political and security frameworks capable of addressing the humanitarian crisis, initiating early recovery efforts, rebuilding Gaza, and laying the groundwork for a political process to end the occupation and achieve a viable two-state solution as soon as possible.
Khiari also highlighted the necessity for these frameworks to “facilitate a legitimate Palestinian government that can re-unify Gaza and the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, politically, economically and administratively while reversing the steadily deteriorating dynamics throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory.”
