GENEVA — Saudi Arabia reaffirmed that the only path to achieving a just, lasting and comprehensive peace in the region is the implementation of the two-state solution and support for the Palestinian people’s inalienable right to self-determination and to establish an independent, sovereign state on the 1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Speaking at a general debate on the human rights situation in Palestine and other occupied Arab territories during the 63rd session of the UN Human Rights Council in Geneva, Dr. Salem Al-Qahtani, director general of the General Administration of Humanitarian Affairs at the Saudi Ministry of Foreign Affairs, strongly condemned the continued Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip. Al-Qahtani stressed the need to uphold the ceasefire and ensure full protection for civilians. He also strongly condemned the expansion of settlement activities and settler terrorism.Al-Qahtani reiterated Saudi Arabia’s categorical rejection of any measures aimed at forcibly displacing the Palestinian people or attempts to alter the geographic or demographic character of the occupied Palestinian territory. He emphasized that Saudi Arabia welcomes the important steps taken by several countries to recognize the State of Palestine, as well as the subsequent strengthening of accountability measures, including restrictions on trade with Israeli settlements. One year after the adoption of the New York Declaration, he reaffirmed the position set out in a statement by the co-chairs of the Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution that Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, constitute a single Palestinian territorial unit and that the occupation must end.
