Cuba demands a solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict at the UN

HAVANA, Cuba, Mar 5 (ACN) Gerardo Peñalver Portal, first deputy minister of Foreign Affairs and permanent representative of Cuba to the United Nations, reiterated the urgent need to find a just and lasting solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict based on the creation of two States, which would allow the Palestinian people to exercise their right to self-determination and to have an independent and sovereign State within the pre-1967 borders.

In the debate held Tuesday under resolution A/Res/76/262, following the veto issued by the United States at the Security Council meeting on Palestine on February 20, Peñalver Portal warned that the UN cannot remain silent in the face of the collective punishment, the grave violations of international humanitarian law and the war crimes and crimes against humanity committed by the Israeli government in Gaza.

“Nothing justifies the ongoing genocide against the Palestinians, preceded by decades of illegal occupation, colonization, dispossession of their lands, and apartheid practices,” said the Cuban official, who called on the U.S. government to stop using its undemocratic and obsolete veto power to protect Israel.

Before concluding his speech, Peñalver Portal reasserted Cuba's willingness to contribute to legitimate international efforts to put an end to the current situation.