GENEVA
Palestine’s envoy to the UN in New York said Friday that he hopes a Geneva conference on the Middle East conflict will take place “as soon as possible.”
Riyad Mansour’s remarks came after Swiss President Viola Amherd said Monday that a conference on the conflict would be organized in Geneva in the coming months.
“I know that our delegation here in Geneva, with the government of Switzerland, they are conducting the dates and the details of the convening of this conference,” Mansour said at a meeting in Geneva with the Association of the Accredited Correspondents to the United Nations (ACANU).
Noting the Fourth Geneva Convention, he said: “When there are crimes of the magnitude of what is really happening in the Gaza Strip and also in the West Bank — with violence from the settlers against the civilian population, the Palestinians — then there should be all countries, members of the Fourth Geneva Convention, and international humanitarian law, to ensure respect at all times of the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.”
“So, we hope … the countries that will meet soon to respond to the call by the General Assembly, (to) produce a document, a position where it will contribute to stopping these violations against the Palestinian people, violating their human rights in the occupied territory, particularly in the Gaza Strip,” he said, adding that that will be how conveners will contribute in their way of “shortening the life of this illegal occupation and terminate it.”
Regarding the establishment of a cease-fire, Mansour said Palestine welcomes “any effort.”
“We are engaging in all kinds of effort in order to have an immediate cease-fire because we are interested in saving lives,” he said.
He noted that a cease-fire would not only save Palestinian lives but also the lives of Israelis, including hostages, as “the continuation of the war threatening their lives” as well.
Israel has continued a devastating offensive against Gaza since an attack last year by the Palestinian resistance group, Hamas, despite a UN Security Council resolution demanding an immediate cease-fire.
More than 43,200 people have since been killed, mostly women and children, and over 101,600 injured, according to local health authorities.
Israel faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its actions in Gaza.
