Sixth Committee, 10th plenary meeting - General Assembly, 81st session

1. Item 75

   Criminal accountability of United Nations officials and experts on mission

2. Item 79

   United Nations Conference of Plenipotentiaries on Prevention and Punishment of Crimes against Humanity

🇵🇸 State of Palestine, 🇮🇱 Israel

1. 🇵🇸 State of PalestineFirst replyin response to Israel▶ 3:14:56 · 5 min

   Thank you, Madam Chair. We are exercising our right of reply in response to the unsubstantiated allegations and attacks against the United Nations and ONU that were made by the Israeli representative. Let me begin by stating that the state of Palestine affirms that ensuring accountability of UN experts and officials in cases of criminal offenses, alleged or perpetrator, must abide by the principles of due process. We reiterate that it that it is without any shred of doubt that criminal accountability of UN staff and experts on missions is an essential precept of the workings of the UN mission, but criminal accountability and justice cannot be pursued on the basis of unsubstantiated allegations and must be within a world of associated facts and evidence. The claims made by the Israeli delegate are unsubstantiated allegations made in the context of their continued attacks against the United Nations, its officials, and personnel. Israel has sought the defunding of UN agencies from UNESCO to Onru. It has sought this for a very long time, and it has attacked all the main bodies of the United Nations the Security Council, the General Assembly, the Human Rights Council, the ECOSEC, and the ICJ. It incited against the Secretary General and declared him persona nangrata. It has launched libelous campaigns against UN officials and refused to grant visas to representatives of the UN bodies as punishment for upholding their mandates. It has killed at least three hundred and fifty Yuan staff with full with full impunity, constituting the highest number of Yuan staff killed in any part of the world or conflict since the Yuan's establishment. And it has taken Yuan staff hostages and tortured them. It has criminalized and banned the presence and activities of the Yuan. Name another member state that has done any of the above. This is why the allegations periled by the Israeli representative against Onorwa are particularly egregious, not just in their nature as propaganda and lies, but also for their purpose to undermine Onwa's mandate and obstruct its humanitarian operations, directly affecting the well being and fate of millions of Palestine refugees of whom Onorwa remains a lifeline. In its advisory opinion in 2025, titled Obligations of Israel in Relation to the Presence and Activities of the United Nations, the ICJ rejected Israel's campaign of lies against UNRWA and said that Israel has not substantiated its allegations and that there is no evidence that Onarwa as an entity breached the principle of impartiality. It also stated that Israel has not substantiated any of the allegations. It stated that Israel is prohibited from taking actions against the Yuan, including Onarwa, contrary to its obligations as a member of the Yuan. And it demanded that Israel respect the involucritive of Yuan premises and not interfere with them. It said that Israel is under an obligation to agree and facilitate relief schemes by the Yuan, including Onarwa, to the Palestinian people. The ICJ also stated that Israel is under an obligation to address any concerns relating to allegations of abuses of privileges and immunities of the Yuan within the existing legal framework for the settlement of death of for the settlement of differences and must not disregard its obligations under the charter based solely on its unilateral assessment of such allegations. Subsequently, the General Assembly in its resolution 8116 demanded that Israel immediately allow and facilitate the provision of life-saving humanitarian assistance and basic services to the Palestinian civilian population, including in particular through ONU. But of course, Israel, instead of adhering to its obligations as stated by the ICJ, its representatives continue to attack the United Nations. There can be no justification whatsoever for Israel's attacks against the UN agency, its personnel on premises. Its General Assembly mandate must be respected. International law, including humanitarian law and human rights law, must be respected. The Convention on the Privileges and Immunities of the UN must also be respected and due process must also be respected. The law must be upheld at all times. There must be consequences for a member state, let alone the only member state that owes its establishment to the United Nations and was created pursuant to UN resolutions for failing to cooperate with the UN, to respect its resolutions and for attacking and killing its personnel, and for acting deliberately to undermine it, to delegitimize the UN and bring to collapse its agencies and structures. Thank you.

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2. 🇮🇱 IsraelFirst replyin response to State of Palestine▶ 3:19:50 · 3 min

   Thank you, Madam Chair. As I understand, the right of reply is intended for delegations seeking to respond to statements or del or allegations directed at the delegation they represented in this room. My remarks had not mentioned the Palestinians or the Palestinian delegation even once. My remarks addressed UNRWA, a United Nations agency, as well as Hamas and then other terrorist organizations. The Palestinian delegation does not represent UNRWA. If the Palestinians had something to say or contribute to our discussion, they could have inscribed themselves to the speakers' list. However, the speakers' list has already been exhausted. The Palestinian delegation is neither the spokesperson for the United Nations nor the spokespersons of for UNRWA, and it cannot claim a right to speak or reply on their behalf. Nor, to the best of my knowledge, does the Palestinian delegation represent Hamas in this room. But if it aspires to represent Hamas as an observer and to speak on behalf of Hamas, they would be me uh That would be a matter requiring a clear declaration and a serious consideration by all Member States, particularly when just a few days ago we reaffirmed our commitment to condemn terrorists in all its forms and manifestations. At this point, however, very little surprises me and my expectations are very low. The Palestinian delegation needs to decide whom it represents in this room. They cannot claim to be so called peace loving while defending and shielding terrorist organizations. They cannot allegedly condemn The killing of innocent civilians while continuing to maintain a policy of pay for slay, rewarding terrorists, including some of the most heinous crimes perpetrators, glorifying them as shahids and celebrating their legacy. UNRWA is a United Nations agency whose ranks have been infiltrated by terrorists. The United Nations might confront this grave problem and eradicate this courage without delay. Terrorist organizations are constantly searching for opportunities, operational space, and safe havens. In the years leading up to October 7, 2023, and during the October 7 massacre itself, owner facilities and personnel were implicated in a deeply disturbing pattern of exploitation and abuse. If the United Nations fails to address this threat actively and decisively and fails to maintain credible deterrence, we should not be surprised when the threat grows and intensifies. There is a saying often attributed to Albert Einstein insanity is doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results. We cannot afford to repeat the mistakes and UN failures of the past. And let me be absolutely clear we will never allow another October 7th massacre. Thank you, Madam Chair.

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Verbatim from the transcript. A reply is identified from its own words, the Chair's grant, or its place in the right-of-reply sequence; delegations and addressees follow the transcript's attribution.