Thirty-Eighth Plenary Meeting of the
Tenth Emergency Session
General Assembly

On June 13, Archbishop Bernardito Auza, Permanent Observer of the Holy See to the United Nations, gave a statement during the Thirty-Eighth Plenary Meeting of the Tenth Emergency Special Session of the United Nations General Assembly. (The Tenth Emergency Special Session of the General Assembly was convened for the first time in April 1997 and concerned Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the rest of the Palestinian Territory. It was last resumed on December 21, 2017, to consider the crisis in the Gaza Strip).

In his remarks, Archbishop Auza praised the efforts of Member States to protect the Palestinian civilian population, avert new violence, and promote negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians toward peace. He said that the Fourth Geneva Convention places civilian protection at the heart of international humanitarian law and therefore targeting of civilians and civilian infrastructures as a tactic of conflict must be avoided. He reiterated what he said at the 37th Plenary Meeting last December, that all nations are obliged to respect the historical status quo of the Holy City in accordance with relevant UN Resolutions in order to preserve Jerusalem’s unique character and provide the conditions for dialogue and reconciliation toward peace in the region.

His statement can be found here.