Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People

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:

Against a background of increasing violence, shrinking civil society space and creeping annexation, speakers at a special meeting of the Palestinian Rights Committee to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People stressed the need to mobilize efforts to hold Israel accountable, including through the International Court of Justice.

The Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People approved its annual report today, as the State of Palestine’s ambassador urged the international community to use the tools at its disposal to pressure Israel and hold it accountable for its crimes against the Palestinian people.

The Bureau of the United Nations General Assembly Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People is following with grave concern the latest developments in Gaza.

The United Nations Palestinian Rights Committee will organize a virtual event on the margins of the sixty-sixth session of the Commission on the Status of Women on “Impact of forced displacement on Palestinian women” on 23 March from 10 a.m. to noon, via WebEx.

Intensified efforts are urgently needed to resolve the Israel-Palestine situation with a view to reaching the overall goal of two States living side by side in peace and security, United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said today at the first formal meeting of the Palestinian Rights Committee in 2022.

Following are UN Secretary-General António Guterres’ remarks to the opening meeting of the 2022 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, in New York today:

Expressing outrage over Israel’s continuing harassment of human rights activists in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including the recent terrorist designation of six civil society groups, speakers urged the international community to take strong action in holding the country accountable for its conduct, as the Committee on the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People met today.

Israel’s continued illegal settlement activities were signalling its blatant rejection of the two-State solution, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine said today during a special meeting to observe the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestine People.

The Bureau of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People expresses its deep concern at Israel’s decision of 22 October to designate as “terrorist organizations” six Palestinian human rights and humanitarian civil society organizations: Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association; Al Haq; Defense for Children International – Palestine; Union of Agricultural Work Committees; Bisan Center for Research and Development; and the Union of Palestinian Women’s Committees.