PA calls for nuclear-free Middle East

Establishing a nuclear weapons free Middle East is more important than ever and no party in the region is entitled to this kind of lethal weapon, the Palestinian representative to the UN said.

Riyad Mansour stressed that nuclear disarmament and international humanitarian law are interconnected in that both aim to protect civilians, and that there is no justification for using or owning these weapons.

His remarks came during the United Nations Conference to ‘Negotiate a Legally Binding Instrument to Prohibit Nuclear Weapons’, held at its headquarters in New York.

“While some nations measure their power by the weapons they possess, others are left to count the victims to these weapons, often being victims of the horrors of conflicts that violate their right to life,” he said,

The State of Palestine will continue working towards respecting and enforcing international law, and extending its function to include nuclear disarmament; the time has come to replace fear and the arms race with the reasoned thinking and logic that can save us all.