Algeria: Middle East Security Hinges on Ending Zionist Occupation

Algeria has declared that the restoration of security and stability in the Middle East is contingent upon silencing weapons and ending the occupation across all Arab territories, which it views as a “fair, sustainable, and definitive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict.”

This assertion was made by Rachid Bladehane, head of the Algerian delegation and Permanent Representative of Algeria to the United Nations Office in Geneva, during the general debate on item 7 of the agenda at the 57th session of the Human Rights Council (CDH), focusing on the human rights situation in Palestinian territories and other occupied Arab lands.

“Algeria firmly believes that restoring security and stability in the Middle East necessitates silencing weapons, promoting the authority of international law, and ending the occupation of all Arab territories, as a just, lasting, and definitive solution to the Arab-Israeli conflict,” he stated.

The Algerian representative in Geneva highlighted that this session “occurs against the backdrop of the ongoing unjust war being waged by the Israeli occupier against the Palestinian people, which has also affected other Arab nations. The latest act of aggression against Lebanon has led to hundreds of casualties and injuries, along with over a million displaced persons.” He characterized the Zionist entity’s announcement of a ground offensive against Lebanon as “an adventure with unpredictable repercussions for peace and security in the Middle East.”

Bladehane cautioned that “this scandalous behavior, which flouts international laws and norms, threatens to plunge the entire region into a cycle of conflicts and wars, heralding a new humanitarian catastrophe.” In light of this situation, he emphasized that “Algeria appeals to the conscience of the international community and urges it to act swiftly, taking concrete measures to enforce respect for the fundamental rights of the Palestinian people. This includes prohibiting the supply of weapons to the occupier and compelling it, through political and economic sanctions, to comply with all UN resolutions and decisions of the International Court of Justice (ICJ), implement an immediate ceasefire, and halt forced deportations, torture, and discriminatory policies.”

Algeria also called upon the international community to expedite the return of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) to operate in Palestine, enabling it to fulfill its vital missions aimed at alleviating the suffering of the Palestinian people and addressing the root causes of the situation in the Middle East—fundamentally stemming from the colonial occupation of Palestinian lands that has persisted for 76 years, a reality worsened by the war on Gaza and the escalation in Lebanon.

In closing, Algeria underscored the importance of “intensifying international efforts to revive the peace process based on the two-state solution, leading to the establishment of the State of Palestine within the 1967 borders, with Jerusalem as its capital, while ensuring the right of return for Palestinian refugees.”