Norway urges countries to be impatient on behalf of Palestinians growing under Israeli occupation

By Ahmet Gencturk

ATHENS (AA) – Norway’s foreign minister on Thursday urged all countries to be more impatient for Palestinians as multiple generations have grown up under Israeli occupation.

"We must all be more impatient on behalf of the Palestinians. Multiple generations have grown up under occupation,” said Espen Barth Eide during his address at the ministerial meeting on establishing a global coalition for the implementation of the two-state solution in New York.

“The Palestinian people have the same right to self-determination as the people of any other nation. This is in line with a number of UN resolutions and with the recent advisory opinion of the UN International Court of Justice on July 19,” he added.

Palestinians should never have had to negotiate for fundamental rights, he stressed.

Recalling the International Court of Justice (ICJ)’s advisory opinion that the Israeli occupation is “illegal” and “must cease”, he said: “Israel can no longer have a veto over what happens in an area that they are occupying in violation of international law. Universal recognition and full membership of the UN for Palestine will place the parties on a more equal footing in future negotiations.”

Underlining the importance of the resolution on the long-lasting Israeli dispute, he said as long as the war in Gaza continues, tensions throughout the region will continue to rise.

Flouting a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire, Israel has continued a brutal offensive on Gaza following a cross-border attack by the Palestinian group Hamas last October.

More than 41,500 people, most of them women and children, have since been killed and more than 96,000 injured, according to local health authorities.

The Israeli onslaught has displaced almost the entire population of the territory amid an ongoing blockade that has led to severe shortages of food, clean water, and medicine.

Israel also faces accusations of genocide at the ICJ for its actions in Gaza.