📋 Tender Overview
Angola voted, on Wednesday (11), at the United Nations headquarters in New York, in favor of the resolution that demands a ceasefire in Gaza.
The vote on resolution A/ES-10L.33, which received 158 votes in favor, 9 against and 13 abstentions, took place during the resumed 10th emergency special session of the UN General Assembly on the “illegal Israeli actions in East Jerusalem and the rest of the occupied Palestinian territory”.
Speaking in the general debate on the matter, the deputy permanent representative and chargé d'affaires of the Angolan Mission to the United Nations, Mateus Luemba, defended the need to end the conflict, highlighting the need for the immediate implementation of the ceasefire that cannot wait any longer.
“The time for our collective action is now for the sake of those in Gaza who see this organization as their last hope for achieving peace and stability,” he stressed.
He called on all parties to the Gaza conflict to exercise maximum restraint, put an immediate end to all hostilities and fully respect international law, including international humanitarian law.
According to the diplomat, the resumption of the emergency special session "takes place in a very challenging and complex international context, particularly due to strategic concerns and regional implications in the political and diplomatic environment in the Middle East" and the serious deterioration of the humanitarian and security situation in the Gaza Strip.
"As we gather in this special emergency session, civilians are suffering and dying every day. In this conflict there are no winners, everyone is a victim. Civilians, mostly women and children, are paying a heavy price, losing everything, including their own lives," he said.
He stressed that Angola condemns terrorism in all its forms and manifestations, regardless of its motivation or its participants.
Ambassador Mateus Luemba stated that Angola "expresses its concern about the terrible humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip" and considers that any measure to prevent the presence of UNRWA would undermine fundamental human rights, including the rights to life, health, food, water and sanitation, and would concomitantly increase tension in this very volatile region.
At the end of his speech, Ambassador Mateus Luemba reiterated that the two-state solution is the only viable option to end the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, as it provides the basis for the existence of the State of Israel and the State of Palestine living together in peace and harmony, cooperating in a normal way, as neighboring countries that share common borders and opportunities for bilateral cooperation.
