Cuba's permanent representative to the UN, Pedro Luis Pedroso.

Havana, May 17 (RHC)-- Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations in New York, Pedro Luis Pedroso, called Monday for unity within the Non-Aligned Movement (NAM) to act firmly in the face of recent Israeli attacks against the occupied Palestinian territories.

"We must close ranks with occupied Palestine and it is incumbent upon this movement to support that brotherly people in their quest to achieve their inalienable rights and legitimate aspirations," the diplomat said at an extraordinary meeting of the NAM Coordinating Bureau.

He stressed that the Palestinian people require the support and action of the international community in the face of Zionist barbarism and the cloak of impunity that the United States is spreading over these crimes with its support to the Israeli regime.

"Moreover, it is shameful that the UN Security Council, with the responsibility to ensure the maintenance of international peace and security, has taken days to convene a public meeting on this issue that impacts the entire Middle East region," Pedroso added.

He denounced that that body has been unable, over the years, to adopt measures to put an end to Israel's military aggression and occupation of Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, in accordance with its resolution 2334 of 2016.

"Meanwhile, Tel Aviv consolidates its policy of expanding illegal settlements and threatens to annex areas of the Jordan Valley and other parts of the West Bank and East Jerusalem," added Cuba's permanent representative to the United Nations.

He also demanded an end to the Israeli massacre and the impunity currently enjoyed by that government.

The Cuban ambassador also defended the right to self-determination, freedom and independence of the Palestinians and to have a sovereign state, based on the pre-1967 borders, with East Jerusalem as their shared capital.

He stressed that "the right of return of refugees must be guaranteed."

"I want to send our dear Palestinian brothers and sisters total solidarity in the face of the alarming escalation of violence, indiscriminate and disproportionate attacks in the Gaza Strip and East Jerusalem, which have claimed the lives of hundreds of people," he said.

Pedroso regretted that among these fatalities, there are many innocent children, "which constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, the United Nations Charter, and the human rights of the Palestinian people," he stressed.