It is my honor to join you today on behalf of the State of Palestine in this Ministerial Meeting of the Non-Aligned Movement we are grateful for the Movement’s longstanding support for the just cause of Palestine.

NAM remains on the frontlines of global solidarity with the Palestinian people, a reflection of the faternal bonds between our peoples and our countries’ historic struggles for liberation, yours leading to the glory of independence and sovereignty, inspiring Palestine’s struggle against the grave injustice done to our people. 

In this past year, your solidarity has been conveyed in international fora, including the UN Security Council, General Assembly, and Human Rights Council and the ICJ and ICC; also in reaffirmation of principled positions in NAM Summit Outcome Documents and Ministerial Declarations, most recently in Kampala.

This meeting sends another strong message of fellowship. It comes at an existential moment for our people, as they weather the darkest chapter since the onset of the Nakba in 1948, deprived of their legitimate rights, including to return and to self-determination, and subjected to the most horrific crimes by the illegal Israeli occupation, from forced transfer and ethnic cleansing, to colonization and annexation of their land, to oppression and apartheid, and now genocide.

You have all witnessed the shocking scope and scale of these atrocities in this past year as Israel, the occupying Power, has intensified its war crimes and crimes against humanity all across Occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem.

You are all aware of the painful details of the death and destruction, devastation and trauma and unspeakable indignities inflicted by Israel on the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, where it has savagely targeted all semblance of life, turning it into a graveyard for children and entire families, and imposing a humanitarian catastrophe, nearly the entire population displaced and under siege, forced to starve and ravaged by disease.

Simultaneously, Israel is accelerating its annexation plans, stealing our land and resources, displacing our civilians, constructing more settlements and violating the historic and legal status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites, especially Al-Aqsa Mosque, the occupation’s attacks, including extremist settler terror, escalating across the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, its colonial settlement drive becoming more vicious by the day. 

Israel does not hide its intentions to erase the Palestinian people, their heritage, identity and very presence in their ancestral land. Its officials openly call for forced transfer, or subjugation, or even annihilation of our people. It does not hide its supremacist ideology, openly imposing apartheid on our people.

This ugly reality cannot persist on our watch. We must act now, urgently and responsibly, to put an end to this illegal situation. We have the legal, political and moral means and might to do so, enshrined in international law, the UN Charter and relevant resolutions, and the lofty principles of our Movement.

In this regard, the ICJ Advisory Opinion – which unequivocally determined that Israel’s occupation is unlawful and must end as rapidly as possible – and the General Assembly resolution ES-10/24 represent a significant turning point for justice for Palestine. We thank NAM countries for their invaluable support. 

These efforts must serve as the blueprint for collective action to pursue accountability to swiftly bring an end to Israel’s illegal occupation, ensure reparations, and finally enable the Palestinian people to realize their legitimate rights, including to return, to self-determination and to independence in their sovereign State of Palestine, with East Jerusalem as its capital.

There must be accountability, including halting all dealings with the settlements and all arms transfers to Israel, and there must be collective action for peace, and the international conference called for by the General Assembly will be pivotal in this regard. 

We are at an existential juncture, and it is time for decisive steps. We call on NAM Member States to translate their steadfast solidarity with Palestine into political, diplomatic and legal action to end this illegal occupation and apartheid regime and achieve Palestinian freedom and a just and lasting peace to end this historic injustice.

I close with deepest gratitude for all the assistance extended by NAM countries to Palestine, helping us to sustain hope even in these darkest of times, and I renew our solidarity with all of you as we come together to tackle the many challenges in our respective regions and globally towards ensuring peace, stability and prosperity for all our peoples and nations.