Gaza occupied territory until UN decides otherwise - UN - Politics - 19/01/2012

KUNA : Gaza occupied territory until UN decides otherwise - UN - Politics - 19/01/2012

UNITED NATIONS, Jan 19 (KUNA) -- The UN considers the Gaza Strip as an Israeli occupied territory and will continue to do so until the General Assembly or the Security Council decides otherwise in future resolutions, UN spokesman Martin Nesirky told the daily press briefing in answer to a pressing question these days on the status of the Strip.
"Under resolutions adopted by both the Security Council and the General Assembly on the Middle East process, the Gaza Strip continues to be regarded as part of the occupied Palestinian territory. The UN will accordingly continue to refer to the Gaza Strip as part of the occupied Palestinian territory until such time as either the General Assembly or the Security Council take a different view," he said.
He gave two examples: the first is Security Council resolution 1860 of 2009 which stressed that the Strip constitutes an "integral part" of the territory occupied in 1967, stressing that Council resolutions "do have force in international law." The second is a 2010 General Assembly resolution which, while it noted the Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern part of the West Bank, it also stressed the "need for respect and preservation of the territorial unity, contiguity and integrity of all of the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem." Following her briefing to the Security Council yesterday on the impact of the Israeli settlements activity on the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territory, the UN Head of humanitarian affairs Valerie Amos insinuated, in answer to a question, that Gaza is not an occupied territory.
Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour also told reporters yesterday in answer to the same question that under international law, Gaza is occupied because it does not control its sky, sea or crossings.