Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa demanded full UN membership, economic support, and political protection as recognition of Palestine continued to expand.
Key Developments
- Mustafa urged countries recognizing Palestine to support its full UN membership and accession to international financial institutions.
- The Palestinian government faces a monthly funding gap of $200 million, while unemployment has reached nearly 78 percent in Gaza.
- Officials unveiled a $2.45 billion Gaza recovery package but warned that reconstruction could not replace Palestinian sovereignty and self-determination.
Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Mustafa called on Thursday for international recognition of Palestine to produce concrete political and economic results.
Mustafa made the remarks during the High-Level Ministerial Global Alliance for the Implementation of the Two-State Solution, held in New York with the participation of foreign ministers and international officials.
“The growing recognition of the State of Palestine represents an important political development, but recognition should also translate into practical results,” Mustafa told the meeting.
He urged countries that had not yet recognized Palestine to do so without delay.
Mustafa said recognition should lead to Palestinian accession to international financial institutions and full membership in the United Nations.
Palestine has held non-member observer state status at the UN since 2012. Although a majority of UN member states recognize Palestine, its attempts to secure full membership have remained blocked by the absence of approval from the UN Security Council.
State Realization
Mustafa called for a fundamental change in the international approach toward Palestine.
“Today, we need to move from state building to state realization,” he said.
He argued that strong Palestinian institutions must be provided with a clear mandate and the ability to exercise sovereignty on behalf of the Palestinian people.
For years, international support has focused on developing Palestinian institutions while Israel has continued expanding illegal settlements, confiscating land and fragmenting the occupied Palestinian territory.
Mustafa warned that Israeli plans in the strategic E1 area were cutting occupied East Jerusalem off from surrounding Palestinian communities and “eroding the human and territorial foundations of the two-state solution.”
The E1 project would establish a continuous corridor of illegal Israeli settlements between occupied East Jerusalem and the Ma’ale Adumim settlement.
Palestinians and rights organizations have warned that the project would divide the occupied West Bank and further isolate East Jerusalem, undermining the territorial continuity of any future Palestinian state.
Mustafa also described the severe financial crisis confronting the Palestinian government.
He said the administration faced an unsustainable monthly funding deficit of $200 million because Israel withheld Palestinian clearance revenues.
These revenues consist primarily of customs duties and taxes collected by Israel on behalf of the Palestinian Authority under existing economic agreements.
Israel has repeatedly deducted or withheld the funds, severely limiting the Palestinian government’s ability to pay public-sector salaries and provide essential services.
Mustafa said unemployment had reached approximately 50 percent across Palestine and nearly 78 percent in Gaza, where Israel’s genocidal war has destroyed much of the enclave’s economic infrastructure.
Reconstruction without Sovereignty
Nickolay Mladenov, the High Representative for Gaza for the US-led Board of Peace, announced a $2.45 billion early recovery package covering 66 immediate projects.
The projects would be administered by the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza.
Mladenov warned, however, that reconstruction could not substitute for a political solution or Palestinian self-determination.
“Reconstruction is not an alternative to a political settlement,” he said.
Rebuilding Gaza without Palestinian sovereignty would merely create “a more comfortable confinement,” Mladenov warned.
He said reconstruction remained dependent on security conditions and the decommissioning of weapons. At the same time, he acknowledged that humanitarian access remained severely restricted and Palestinian casualties were continuing.
UN Assistant Secretary-General Ramiz Alakbarov also warned about the catastrophic humanitarian conditions inside Gaza.
He said communities in southern Gaza living below sea level faced a serious risk of winter flooding caused by untreated sewage and accumulated domestic waste.
Alakbarov urged Israel to remove restrictions on materials classified as “dual-use,” which have obstructed the entry of equipment required for humanitarian relief, sanitation, infrastructure repairs and reconstruction.
He also called for unified Palestinian governance in Gaza and the occupied West Bank under the Palestinian Authority.
‘Every Delay Has a Price’
For his part, Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Faisal bin Farhan insisted that Gaza must not emerge from the war politically or territorially separated from the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem.
“We cannot assume that the basis of this solution, the two-state solution, will persist,” he warned.
Prince Faisal said forced expulsions and unilateral Israeli measures were actively dismantling the possibility of Palestinian statehood.
“Every day, every delay has a price. So, the question is, how many people must die to turn this vision into a reality?” he asked.
Norwegian Foreign Minister Espen Barth Eide also addressed the situation in Palestine. He said Norway’s formal recognition of Palestine had permanently removed what he described as a bilateral veto that had obstructed progress since the Oslo Accords.
He said Oslo had expanded direct budgetary assistance to help preserve Palestinian institutions.
Norway had also imposed restrictions on goods originating from Israel’s illegal occupation, in line with the findings of the International Court of Justice, Eide said.
EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas acknowledged that international diplomatic declarations remained “at odds with the hard realities on the ground.”
Kallas reaffirmed European support for Palestinian legislative elections and said the bloc was implementing environmental pilot projects through its Team Gaza initiative.
She also expressed support for demilitarization frameworks and the complete withdrawal of Israeli occupation forces.
No comments:
Post a Comment