Saudi Gazette report

GENEVA — Saudi Arabia denounced the repression by Israeli occupation forces against Palestinians holding peaceful marches in the Gaza Strip and the West Bank as well as using of the excessive force against unarmed civilians that resulted in the killing of more than 100 people and wounding more than 3,000, the Saudi Press Agency reported.

Taking part in a discussion on the situation of the occupied Palestinian territories at the UN Human Rights Council, Saudi Ambassador to UN in Geneva Dr. Abdul Aziz Al-Wasel stressed that Israel’s approval of the construction of 2,070 new settlement units in the occupied West Bank indicates continuing Israeli aggressions along with violations of the rights of the Palestinian people and acting in defiance of relevant international legitimacy resolutions.

Al-Wasel condemned in the strongest terms the continuation of the Israeli authorities of their policies and measures in terms of collective punishment of the civilian population in the Gaza Strip and imposing of an illegal and immoral blockade that caused social, economic and humanitarian crises.

The ambassador also emphasized that the alleviation of the suffering of the Palestinian people is one of the key priorities of Saudi Arabia’s policies and that the comprehensive, fair and lasting peace will be achieved only through the full withdrawal of Israel from all Arab territories occupied in 1967 and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state in accordance with the Arab Peace Initiative and the relevant international resolutions.

He pledged Kingdom’s full support to all international initiatives and efforts aimed at saving the peace process, putting an end to the occupation and stopping violations against the Palestinian people.

Meanwhile, an official source at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs voiced Kingdom’s strong condemnation of the dual attack on the warehouses where ballot boxes were kept in the northern Iraqi city of Kirkuk.

In a statement, the source renewed the Kingdom’s stand and solidarity with Iraq against terrorism and extremism. The source offered condolences to the families of victims, the government and the people of Iraq, and wished a speedy recovery for the injured.