The Government of Maldives has called on to establish an independent Palestine with East Jerusalem as capital, coexisting with Israel as the only solution to the Middle East crisis.

Speaking in the United Nation’s Security Council’s Open Debate on the situation of the Middle East and the question of Palestine, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations, Dr. Ali Naseer Mohamed said that Israel must withdraw to pre-1967 borders, relinquish all claims to seized territories and allow Palestinians to move back to their ancestral homelands.

‘The Security Council has done the right thing by passing the historic Resolution in December 2016 demanding Israel to immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestine, including East Jerusalem. The Security Council made it crystal clear that it will not recognize any changes to the 4 June 1967 lines, including with regard to Jerusalem, other than those agreed by the two sides through negotiations,’ Dr. Naseer said.

Dr. Naseer also had condemned the restrictions made by the Israelis on historical and religious places.

‘The Maldives strongly condemns the restrictions imposed by the occupying power to alter the historic and legal status quo in East Jerusalem, notably the Al Haram al Sharif, including the Al Agsa Mosque. The Government of Maldives calls on the occupying power, Israel, to immediately stop its illegal activities and respect its international legal obligations, in particular, the relevant Security Council Resolutions,’ he added.

The Maldives had also called on for a resolution to the civil conflict and resulting humanitarian crisis in Syria.