NEW YORK: Palestine and the Golan Heights “occupy a great place in the heart of the Arab nation,” Abdallah Al-Mouallimi, Saudi Arabia’s permanent representative to the UN, said.

The Saudi government has always supported Palestinian rights under Israeli occupation, the Al-Mouallimi said.

Al-Mouallimi was commenting on a report dealing with Palestinian rights presented to the Economic and Financial Committee as part of the 74th session of the UN General Assembly.

“The international community agrees that sustainable development in the region cannot be achieved unless it is comprehensive and equitable,” he said.

Al-Mouallimi said that Israeli authorities continue to violate international conventions and norms in their dealings with the Palestinians under occupation.

“The report recorded many blatant violations by Israel, including the imposition of discriminatory policies in favor of the settlers in Palestine and the occupied Syrian Golan with regards to the exploitation of land and water resources.”

Israeli authorities imposed severe restrictions on the movement of Palestinians, which led to the deterioration of the economic, social and humanitarian situation. Up to 95 percent of the population of the Golan Heights had been displaced and 340 Syrian villages demolished, he said.

Violations included use of excessive force against children, women and the elderly, and the killing of Palestinians by Israeli settlers.

“There is no justification for the continuation of these flagrant violations, especially in light of the international consensus on the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination and the establishment of an independent state within the borders of June 1967, with Jerusalem as its capital,” he said.