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STORY: UN / PALESTINIAN PEOPLE INALIENABLE RIGHTS
TRT: 4:12
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 05 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior, United Nations
5 FEBRUARY 2025, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, conference room
3. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land.”
4. Wide shot, conference room
5. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“First, we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay. We cannot go back to more death and destruction. For our part, the UN is working around the clock to reach Palestinians in need and scale up support. That requires humanitarian access that is rapid, safe, unimpeded, expanded, and sustained. I call on Member States, donors, and the international community to fully fund humanitarian operations and meet urgent needs. And I once again urge Member States to support the essential work of UNRWA.”
6. Wide shot, conference room
7. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
8. Wide shot, conference room
9. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.”
10. Wide shot, conference room
11. SOUNDBITE (English) António Guterres, Secretary-General, United Nations:
“International law must be respected, and accountability ensured. We must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza. A strong and unified Palestinian governance is crucial. The international community must support the Palestinian Authority to this end.”
12. Wide shot, conference room
13. SOUNDBITE (French) Coly Seck, Permanent Representative of Senegal to the United Nations, Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People:
“The ceasefire was a decisive step forward in terms of providing aid and safety towards the release of the hostages and prisoners and the return of the Gazans to their land. But over the past few days, there have been worrisome statements made seeking to undermine this. Our Committee is very struck by this. We need to reinvent strategies to block the way for those enemies of peace on Palestinian ground that is so dear to Palestine”
14. Wide shot, conference room
15. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the Observer State of Palestine:
“This fabulous organization has been serving millions of Palestinian refugees, and it is carrying a noble activities in the service of our people, particularly in the Gaza Strip which is in need of the most help that one ask for.”
16. Wide shot, conference room
17. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad Mansour, Permanent Observer of the Observer State of Palestine:
“We need to rebuild the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is a very precious component of the land of the State of Palestine. It is part of our homeland, and we don't have a homeland other than the State of Palestine. So therefore we are not looking for other homelands or other countries. For those who want us to have a happy place and safe place, we will be delighted to return to our homes inside the State of Israel.”
18. Wide shot, conference room
19. SOUNDBITE (English) Greta Gunnarsdottir, head of UNRWA’s liaison office in New York:
“What is clear is that UNRWA remains firmly committed to staying and delivering its mandate from the General Assembly until it is no longer possible to do so.”
20. Wide shot, conference room
21. SOUNDBITE (English) Greta Gunnarsdottir, head of UNRWA’s liaison office in New York:
“Curtailing our operations now when the needs are so high and trust in the international community is so low will undermine the ceasefire. It will sabotage Gaza's recovery and political transition.”
22. Various shots, conference room
Secretary-General António Guterres reiterated, “At its essence, the exercise of the inalienable rights of the Palestinian people is about the right of Palestinians to simply live as human beings in their own land,” stressing that “it is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing.”
Guterres addressed the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People today (05 Feb) in New York.
The UN chief stressed that nothing justifies the horrific Hamas attacks of October 7. And nothing justifies what we have seen unfold in Gaza over these last many months.
The Secretary-General welcomed the ceasefire and hostage release deal. He thanked the mediators —Egypt, Qatar, and the United States— for the continued efforts to ensure implementation.
Now is the time to be crystal clear about objectives going forward, Guterres highlighted.
“First, we must keep pushing for a permanent ceasefire and the release of all hostages without delay,” he said.
The UN chief continued, “We cannot go back to more death and destruction.”
For its part, the UN is “working around the clock to reach Palestinians in need and scale up support. That requires humanitarian access that is rapid, safe, unimpeded, expanded, and sustained,” Guterres said.
He called on Member States, donors, and the international community to fully fund humanitarian operations and meet urgent needs.
The Secretary-General once again urged Member States to support the essential work of UNRWA.
Second, in the search for solutions, we must not make the problem worse, Guterres said.
“It is vital to stay true to the bedrock of international law. It is essential to avoid any form of ethnic cleansing,” he stressed.
Third, we must reaffirm the two-State solution, Guterres said.
He continued, “Any durable peace will require tangible, irreversible and permanent progress toward the two-State solution, an end to the occupation, and the establishment of an independent Palestinian State, with Gaza as an integral part.”
Guterres stated that a viable, sovereign Palestinian State living side-by-side in peace and security with Israel is the only sustainable solution for Middle East stability.
The Secretary-General reiterated, “International law must be respected, and accountability ensured,” adding that “we must work toward preserving the unity, contiguity, and integrity of the Occupied Palestinian Territory and the recovery and reconstruction of Gaza.:
He concluded, “A strong and unified Palestinian governance is crucial. The international community must support the Palestinian Authority to this end.”
Ambassador of Senegal Coly Seck, who is the Chair of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, also spoke.
He said, “The ceasefire was a decisive step forward in terms of providing aid and safety towards the release of the hostages and prisoners and the return of the Gazans to their land.”
“But over the past few days, there have been worrisome statements made seeking to undermine this. Our Committee is very struck by this.”
Ambassador Seck reiterated, “We need to reinvent strategies to block the way for those enemies of peace on Palestinian ground that is so dear to Palestine”
For his part, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour commended the work of UNRWA.
He said, “This fabulous organization has been serving millions of Palestinian refugees, and it is carrying a noble activities in the service of our people, particularly in the Gaza Strip which is in need of the most help that one ask for.”
Ambassador Mansour also said, “We need to rebuild the Gaza Strip. The Gaza Strip is a very precious component of the land of the State of Palestine. It is part of our homeland, and we don't have a homeland other than the State of Palestine.”
“So therefore we are not looking for other homelands or other countries. For those who want us to have a happy place and safe place, we will be delighted to return to our homes inside the State of Israel,” the Palestinian Ambassador highlighted.
Greta Gunnarsdottir, head of UNRWA’s liaison office in New York delivered a statement on behalf of Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini.
She said, “What is clear is that UNRWA remains firmly committed to staying and delivering its mandate from the General Assembly until it is no longer possible to do so.”
Gunnarsdottir also stressed that curtailing UNRWA’s operations now when the needs are so high and trust in the international community is so low “will undermine the ceasefire. It will sabotage Gaza's recovery and political transition.”
