STATEMENT (4C) : GENERAL DEBATE ON ITEM 50 – ISRAELI PRACTICES AND SETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES AFFECTING THE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARA

STATEMENT

BY

H.E. AMBASSASOR AHMAD FAISAL MUHAMAD

PERMANENT REPRESENTATIVE OF MALAYSIA TO THE UNITED NATIONS

AT THE FOURTH COMMITTEE OF THE 80^TH SESSION OF

THE UNITED NATIONS GENERAL ASSEMBLY

ON THE GENERAL DEBATE ON

ITEM 50 – ISRAELI PRACTICES AND SETTLEMENT ACTIVITIES AFFECTING THE RIGHTS OF THE PALESTINIAN PEOPLE AND OTHER ARABS OF THE OCCUPIED TERRITORIES

Chair,

At the outset, Malaysia thanks the Chair of the Special Committee, His Excellency Ambassador Jayantha Jayasuriya of Sri Lanka for presenting the report of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Occupied Territories.

2. As one of the Members of the Special Committee, we commend the Chair and the other member, His Excellency Ambassador Coly Seck of Senegal, as well as the Secretariat of the Special Committee, for their excellent cooperation and dedication throughout the preparation of the report. Malaysia endorses the Special Committee’s report and its content in full.

Chair,

3. Between August 2024 and July 2025, the Special Committee documented multiple violations of international law by Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, namely, Gaza and the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in the occupied Syrian Golan. In its report, the Special Committee, consistent with multiple other United Nations reports, concluded that Israel’s conduct in Gaza amounts to genocide; Israel’s conducts in the West Bank amounts to ethnic cleansing; and Israel’s detention practices amounts to crimes against humanity.

4. The report of the Special Committee provides critical context to the ongoing devastating situation on the ground. Although a ceasefire agreement has been achieved in Gaza, the overall situation, marked by illegal policies and inhuman practices, continues to persist across the occupied territories.

Chair,

5. Allow Malaysia to highlight several important findings:

• In Gaza, over 60,000 Palestinians have been killed, 146,000 injured and 70 per cent of the infrastructure destroyed;

• Mass starvation caused by the Israeli blockade has resulted in 89 children confirmed dead from malnutrition;

• UN staff in Gaza have suffered the highest death toll in the history of the United Nations. As of July 2025, 330 UNRWA staff had been killed and 885 incidents were recorded affecting UN premises. Over 842 civilians were killed while sheltering in UNRWA facilities;

• In the West Bank and East Jerusalem, violence perpetrated by the Israeli State and settlers reached unprecedented levels between August 2024 and July 2025. Over 400 Palestinians were killed, 4,000 injured, and 40,000 displaced;

• Over 18,000 Palestinians, including 1,450 children and 560 women, were arrested, and most, if not all, were subjected to systematic torture, sexual violence and killings in custody. Some 4,000 Palestinians remain missing under Israeli detention;

• All Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and occupied Syrian Golan are illegal under international law. As of July 2025, there were 141 Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank and 25 in Jerusalem. There were also 503,732 Israeli settlers documented in the West Bank and 233,600 in East Jerusalem;

• During the reporting period, Israel demolished, seized or sealed 1,875 structures, including 670 inhabited residential structures in the occupied West Bank and 217 in East Jerusalem. As a result, 3,747 Palestinians, including over 1500 children, were forcibly displaced in the occupied West Bank and 645 in the occupied East Jerusalem.

6. The Advisory Opinion of the International Court of Justice, issued on 19 July 2024 found that the policies and practices of Israel, including the maintenance and expansion of settlements, amounted to the annexation of the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and violated the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination. The Court further held that Israel is under an obligation to end its unlawful presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, as rapidly as possible. This decision was supported by 124 Member States at the General Assembly under resolution ES-10/24, which called upon Israel to end its occupation before 18 September 2025. Yet, not only has Israel failed to end its occupation, it has in fact, intensified its illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, with impunity.

7. On 22 October 2025, the International Court of Justice released another landmark Advisory Opinion. Therein, the Court unequivocally affirmed the mandate of the United Nations and its entities, including UNRWA, to continue their operations in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Israel has therefore failed to fulfil its obligation as an occupying power, and as a member of the United Nations.

Chair,

8. The real motivation underpinning the illegal occupation is clear. The Committee found that Israeli officials have repeatedly endorsed the ideology of “Greater Israel”. The notion of “historical rights” to the “Land of Israel” is being used to justify territorial expansion, including beyond the 1967 borders established by the Security Council resolution 242.  The ‘Greater Israel’ agenda is the reason behind the dispossession, forced displacement, ethnic cleansing, inhuman treatment and genocide perpetrated by Israel on the Palestinian people. It opposes and completely destroys any prospect for the two-state solution.

9. The ceasefire agreement reached in October has offered renewed hope for a long-term solution to the conflict in Gaza and the region as a whole. However, the situation remains fragile, as Palestinians’ lives continue to be under attack and humanitarian access remains obstructed.  

10. In closing, Malaysia reaffirms our support for the inalienable right of the Palestinian people to self-determination through the establishment of a fully sovereign State of Palestine, based on pre-1967 borders with East Jerusalem as its Capital. A fully sovereign and independent State of Palestine can only be meaningful if its authorities are able to exercise full control over its territory, and until Israel fully withdraw from all Palestinian territories.

Thank you.