Cairo, Nov 9 (IANS) The Arab League (AL) has welcomed the recent endorsement of six UN resolutions in favour of the Palestinian people and their rights and opposing Israeli practices, the Cairo-based body said in a statement.
“This vote reflects the commitment of the international community towards the Palestinian cause and the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, foremost of which is the right to self-determination and the right of Palestinian refugees to return to their homes,” Xinhua news agency quoted Saeed Abu Ali, AL assistant secretary general for Palestine affairs and occupied Arab territories, as saying in the statement issued on Sunday.
The resolutions were passed on Novermber 4 by a committee at the UN General Assembly with overwhelming majorities and were supported by the three Arab countries with which Israel recently signed normalization deals as well as most European states.
The renewed resolutions support the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), which helps the Palestinian refugees, and criticize the Israeli settlement expansion on occupied Palestinian territories.
The massive endorsement shows international commitment to “the important role that UNRWA has been playing since its establishment in providing vital services to more than 5.5 million refugees”, said the AL official.
He also urged the states that promised financial contributions to UNRWA to fulfill their commitments so that the pro-Palestinian agency could continue its work and overcome the additional challenges posed by the coronavirus pandemic.
Also last week, the Israeli forces demolished a small Palestinian village in the occupied West Bank, leaving over 70 civilians homeless including 41 minors, a move that was slammed by the UN and the European Union.
The Israeli-Palestinian conflict has been going on for decades, following the Israeli occupation of Palestinian lands and the Western-backed creation of Israel in 1948.
The Palestinians seek to establish their own independent state on the 1967 borders, based on the UN-proposed two-state solution.
–IANS
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