UN high-level week proved Palestine cannot be 'erased' or 'ignored,' envoy says

The high-level gathering of the UN General Assembly demonstrated decisively that efforts to marginalize Palestine have failed on the global stage, Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour told the UN Security Council on Monday.

"Palestine was everywhere. Was the biggest elephant in the UN building, and maybe through the city of New York," Mansour said, addressing the 15-member council at the conclusion of the assembly's high-level week.

He stressed that an overwhelming majority of 152 member states intervened to ensure Palestinian delegates participated on an equal footing with other sovereign nations, directly overcoming visa denials imposed by the host country.

The demonstration of international backing, Mansour noted, proves that Palestine cannot be "erased" or "ignored" and that the Palestinian people "cannot be rendered invisible, and their rights cannot be extinguished by genocide, occupation, settlement, or annexation."

Warnings over annexation, E1 corridor construction

Mansour cautioned that territorial annexation represents an immediate operational reality rather than a future risk, noting that land seizures and structural expansion in the occupied West Bank advance "faster than ever."

He singled out construction tenders in the strategic E1 corridor near Jerusalem as the ultimate step in a wider effort to "kill the Palestinian state, and with it, any prospect for peace." In parallel, he accused Israeli authorities of working toward the collapse of the Palestinian Authority, which he claimed would provide a "unique opportunity" for Israel to facilitate the forcible displacement of Palestinians and occupation of Palestinian lands.

Demands for international sanctions, disarming occupiers

Turning to international enforcement, Mansour insisted that UN Security Council Resolution 2334 was never designed as an optional instrument, arguing that decades of verbal reproaches have failed to deter territorial expansion.

"The time has come to move from statements to measures, from condemnation to accountability, and from declarations of solidarity to implementation," Mansour said. He urged member states to disarm occupiers in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 904 and hold officials, financial institutions, and commercial enterprises accountable for funding unlawful expansion.

Citing the advisory opinion issued by the International Court of Justice, Mansour emphasized that third states hold binding legal duties to withhold recognition and material support from the occupation.

He urged foreign governments to sever financial and defense ties, summarizing the requirement as "no money, no trade, no arms, to prolong the unlawful occupation," and concluding that global powers must demonstrate whether diplomatic words will finally carry tangible consequences.