NEW YORK –Ambassador Lana Nusseibeh, UAE’s Assistant Minister for Political Affairs and Permanent Representative to the UN, has emphasized the UAE’s commitment to its continued support of the Palestinian people.
“The UAE is committed to its continued support of the Palestinian people. Looking ahead, we confirm that our contribution to any reconstruction effort in Gaza will be conditional on the existence of an unambiguous commitment, backed by tangible steps, to launch a concrete plan to achieve the two-state solution with a viable, independent, and sovereign Palestinian state, in line with relevant UN Security Council resolutions, and negotiated between the two parties with full international backing.
“Having just returned from a UAE-organized visit to the Rafah border with Gaza, where alongside 15 current and incoming UN Security Council ambassadors and UN officials, we learned firsthand about the scale of the devastation in Gaza. Our immediate priority is to end the violence and protect the civilian Palestinian population there. We will continue to demand an urgent humanitarian ceasefire to end the bloodshed, and to facilitate the immediate, safe, sustainable, and unhindered delivery of relief and humanitarian aid, particularly to the most vulnerable, including the sick, children, the elderly, and women. We further stress the importance of the full and urgent implementation of Security Council resolution 2712 (2023).
“We must also prevent, through robust measures, a wider escalation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including in the West Bank where extremist settler violence must cease immediately, and perpetrators must be held accountable.
“The only way forward from this desperate crisis is the two-state solution, and the UAE will use all diplomatic and political levers to push for that outcome,” she said.
Earlier, Nusseibeh had inaugurated three water desalination plants in Egypt’s Rafah, in the presence of numerous representatives of UN Security Council member states.
The plants aim to supply the Gaza Strip with its needs for drinking water, as part of the UAE’s humanitarian response to alleviate the suffering of the Palestinian people in the Strip.
This initiative occurred during the visit by a UN delegation to the Rafah Crossing, an effort led by the United Arab Emirates in cooperation with the Arab Republic of Egypt.
The establishment of water desalination plants in the Egyptian Rafah is part of the UAE’s ‘Noble Knight 3’ humanitarian operation, addressing the critical water infrastructure situation in Gaza and ensuring the Palestinian people’s access to safe drinking water.
The three new desalination plants will provide clean drinking water for 300,000 people by processing approximately 600,000 gallons of seawater each day. This water will be distributed through a network of pipes throughout the Gaza Strip, significantly improving access to safe and clean drinking water for the residents.
The United Arab Emirates launched the ‘Noble Knight 3’ humanitarian operation on November 5, 2023, to provide humanitarian assistance to the Palestinian people in Gaza. The UAE sent 105 aircraft carrying a field hospital, water desalination plants, and more than 7,126 tons of food, medical, and relief supplies.