Bureau of General Assembly Palestinian Rights Committee Welcomes Security Council Resolution 2712 (2023) Demanding Compliance with International Law in Gaza

The following statement was issued today by the Bureau of the General Assembly’s Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:

The Bureau welcomes the adoption of Security Council resolution 2712 (2023) concerning the crisis facing the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip and its demand that all parties comply with their obligations under international law, including international humanitarian law, notably with regard to the protection of civilians.

The Bureau urges respect for this demand and for the implementation of resolution 2712 (2023) in its entirety, including the call for “urgent and extended humanitarian pauses and corridors for a sufficient number of days throughout the Gaza Strip to enable, consistent with international humanitarian law, the full, rapid, safe and unhindered humanitarian access for United Nations humanitarian agencies and their implementing partners”.

The Bureau remains extremely concerned at the ongoing attacks on civilian areas and infrastructure, including UN premises, hospitals, schools and places of worship where civilians are taking refuge.  In line with international humanitarian law, these sites must be protected at all times.

Humanitarian pauses are not a solution to the collective suffering imposed on the Palestinian civilian population of the Gaza Strip.  They will not stop the killing of civilians witnessed for the past 40 days.  While welcoming the adoption of the resolution, the Bureau reiterates its calls for an immediate and durable ceasefire and for Israel, the occupying Power, to stop and reverse the forcible transfer of civilians, lift the full siege of the Gaza Strip and allow a regular and steady flow of humanitarian supplies, at the scale that meets the enormous needs.

The Bureau also calls for the immediate and unconditional release of all Israeli hostages in Gaza and all Palestinians who are arbitrarily detained in Israel.

Fulfilling the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people, including their right to self-determination and their legitimate aspirations for an independent State, is paramount to achieve a just and lasting peace in accordance with international law and on the basis of the two-State solution based on the pre-1967 borders.