The State of Qatar has affirmed that it will continue to support the legitimate demands of the Palestinian and Arab brethren in the occupied territories to enjoy their inalienable rights.
It has also stressed that the decision of the Israeli authorities to impose their laws, jurisdiction and administration on the occupied Syrian Arab Golan is null and void and has no international legal effect.
Qatar expressed its rejection of illegal practices in the Golan, which violated international law and Security Council resolutions, in particular resolution 497 and General Assembly resolutions, the latest of which was resolution 73/100.
This came in the statement of the State of Qatar before the Fourth Committee (Special Political Matters) of the United Nations General Assembly on the item, “Report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories”, delivered by Abdulrahman Ahmad al-Jarba, member of the delegation of the State of Qatar participating in the 74th session of the United Nations General Assembly.
Al-Jarba said that the attention given to the rights of the Palestinian people and other Arab inhabitants in the occupied territories by the international community and the rejection of Israeli practices affecting their rights is a principled position that reflects the international community’s commitment to guaranteeing and promoting the human rights of all peoples, and rejecting violations of the 
international law, including international human rights law and humanitarian law.
He said that the report of the Special Committee documented a wide range of violations of the rights guaranteed under international law of the Palestinian people and other Arab people in the occupied territories, and reflected a regrettable and disturbing reality of human rights and the humanitarian situation in the occupied territories as a result of such violations.
He noted that such practices were documented in other reports before the Committee, and many other reports issued by various United Nations bodies and international and human rights organisations.
The report of the secretary-general on Israeli settlements illustrates the increasing Israeli settlement activities in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and notes the forced environment imposed on the inhabitants of the occupied territory, which includes house demolitions, forced evictions as well as settler violence, he added.
In this regard, al-Jarba said that the State of Qatar reaffirms that Israeli settlements in the Occupied Territories are illegal and an obstacle to peace, economic and social development as well as an obstacle to the two-state solution, noting that the UN secretary-general’s report on Israeli practices documented the excessive use of force by Israeli security forces, particularly in the Gaza Strip, as well as other violations including detention and ill-treatment, including ill-treatment of children and violations of fair trial guarantees, and restrictions on freedom of movement affecting other rights such as the right to health, the right to work and the right to education.“Restrictions on freedom of expression, assembly and association, as well as assaults on workers who document human rights violations, also continue.” Israel must comply with the demands of the General Assembly in its various resolutions under this item and desist from all measures that contravene international law, he added.
He further said that the continuation of the siege imposed on the Gaza Strip is causing deterioration of the economic and humanitarian situation and the ability of the population to enjoy their human rights.
The report of the secretary-general has shown that the demolition of houses and the revocation of work and travel permits as a punitive measure could amount to collective punishment prohibited by international humanitarian law and contrary to many human rights provisions, he noted.
He said: “We reaffirm the applicability of the 1949 Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War to the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and other Arab territories occupied by Israel since 1967, and the resolutions of the General Assembly, including resolution 73/99, stressing the need for Israel to respect the provisions of the Convention.”
Al-Jarba also stressed that a permanent, just and comprehensive solution to the Palestinian issue is the way to put an end to the practices that affect the human rights of the Palestinian people, noting that this requires serious negotiations between the Palestinian and Israeli sides, based on the agreed terms of reference, and the resolutions of the United Nations and the Arab Peace Initiative in order to establish a viable Palestinian State on the 1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its capital, and ending the Israeli occupation of the Arab territories, including the Syrian Golan and the occupied Lebanese territory. In  addition, there is a need for an immediate and complete cessation of settlement activities, the return of refugees and the restoration of the rights of the Palestinian people, with emphasis on the need not to prejudice the status quo of Al-Quds Al-Sharif and Islamic and Christian holy sites, especially the Al Aqsa Mosque.
Concluding, al-Jarba thanked the assistant secretary-general for presenting the reports of the secretary-general and the chairman of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories, for presenting the committee’s report.


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