2023-10-19 22:22:45
Thursday October 19, 2023
Thanks for coming.
Yesterday I received the Ambassadors of the member countries of the League of Arab States accredited in Cuba, with whom I exchanged about the need to find an urgent solution. I confirmed our invariable solidarity with the Palestinian and Arab cause.
Cuba strongly condemns the indiscriminate bombings against the population of Gaza and the destruction of homes, hospitals and civil infrastructure.
Nothing can justify such actions, which constitute collective punishment, serious violations of International Humanitarian Law and war crimes and crimes against humanity.
We strongly condemn the murders of civilians and innocent people, as a result of the current escalation, without differentiating their ethnicity, origin, nationality or religious faith.
We share the pain of the Arab and Hebrew communities of Cuba.
In the current very serious situation, the United Nations Security Council has not even been able to call to stop the ongoing massacre.
The United States government yesterday vetoed in that body a proposal that merely called for a humanitarian pause in the confrontation to allow aid access to Gaza and guarantee the protection of civilians. He used the pretext that he was premature. It was a resolution that did not even call for a ceasefire, but only for a humanitarian pause that would allow aid to be delivered to the civilian population of Gaza under indiscriminate and criminal aggression.
This decision by the United States government is not only regrettable, but also dangerous. The position of the United States government is committed to stopping this genocidal escalation and finding paths to peace.
However, it doesn’t surprise anyone. The United States government has historically been complicit and responsible for Israel’s impunity for its historically committed crimes, when it has obstructed Security Council action regarding Palestine and undermined peace and stability in the Middle East.
The United States has vetoed 46 resolutions in the Security Council related to the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question.
During these more than 10 days we have followed with great concern, dismay, shock the serious events in the Middle East.
A humanitarian catastrophe of extreme proportions is occurring in the occupied Palestinian territory of the Gaza Strip and also, to some extent, in the West Bank.
A ground invasion of the Gaza Strip, as announced by Israeli military commanders, would have unpredictable consequences.
The current situation is a consequence of 75 years of illegal occupation, of the violation of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people in their own territory.
The impunity with which the Israeli government acts can only be explained by its confidence that it will not have to face consequences for its actions and that it has the support of the United States government and its other NATO allies.
Israel flagrantly violates relevant United Nations resolutions and its obligations as an Occupying Power under the Fourth Geneva Convention.
A comprehensive, just and lasting solution to the conflict requires, inexorably, the exercise of the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and to build their own State, an independent and sovereign Palestinian State, within the pre-1967 borders, with its capital in East Jerusalem and with guarantees for the return of refugees.
This has been the firm historical position of the Non-Aligned Movement and the Group of 77 and China. The latter reiterated it in the declaration that he adopted at his ministerial meeting held in mid-September, at the UN headquarters in New York.
Every moment of impunity for action, passivity, double standards or silence will cost more innocent lives. We must act immediately.
In this context, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Cuba:
1. Makes an urgent call for a ceasefire.
2. Demand an end to war rhetoric.
3. Demand that the United States government not continue to paralyze the Security Council using the undemocratic and obsolete veto power to protect the excesses of the Israeli government.
4. Calls for the immediate resumption of the tenth emergency special session of the United Nations General Assembly. The Assembly’s highest priority must be to achieve a cessation of violence, a ceasefire and the provision of urgent and sufficient humanitarian aid to the Palestinian people.
5. Requests to urgently mobilize, under the coordination of the United Nations, emergency humanitarian aid to address the catastrophic situation in Gaza. Calls on all parties involved to facilitate the entry and distribution of this indispensable humanitarian aid.
6. Requests the General Assembly and the United Nations Security Council to adopt all necessary measures to guarantee international protection to the Palestinian population.
7. Calls on the different mechanisms for political coordination and international integration, such as the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM), the Group of 77, the Community of Latin American and Caribbean States (CELAC), among others, to play an active role to stop the escalation of violence.
Cuba will support and contribute in everything within its power to legitimate international efforts in order to put an end to the current situation.
(Cubaminrex)
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