NEW YORK: The top Palestinian diplomat In his speech at the UNGA meeting, accused Israel of committing “genocide” against Palestinian families and urged the international community to protect the Palestinian people until their freedom was assured.

Foreign Minister Riad Al-Malki emphasised that “every country in the world has a responsibility to ensure that peace, justice and freedom prevail.”

He urged the assembly to ensure that Israel was held accountable for killing innocent Palestinians and was not provided with arms. He said the presence of a dozen ministers, almost all from Arab and Islamic countries, sent a clear message: “Stop the violence.”

The Palestinian minister responded to Israel’s claims of acting in self-defence by saying: “How can an occupying power have the right to defend itself when a whole people under occupation is deprived of the very same rights?”

Al-Malki said the Palestinians had informed the Biden administration and the Quartet of Mideast mediators — the US, UN, European Union and Russia — that “ending occupation against our people and our holy sites should be followed by a political process” that would lead to ending the Israeli occupation of Palestine and its capital.