This should also guarantee the right of return of refugees, Cuban Permanent Representative at the United Nations Ernesto Soberón said at a meeting attended by Secretary General António Guterres at the organization’s headquarters in New York.

Soberón also rejected the ban imposed by Israel on the activities of the UN Agency for Palestinian Refugees (UNRWA) in Gaza and condemned Israel’s military operations in the West Bank, which he described as genocide against the Palestinian people.

During his speech before the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (CEIRPP), the Cuban diplomat ratified his country’s commitment to continuing to defend this cause.

“Cuba will continue to demand the immediate and unconditional admission of the State of Palestine as a full member of the United Nations,” emphasized Soberón, who expressed gratitude for the support and confidence for Cuba’s election as CEIRPP vice president.

According to UN statistics, about 70 percent of Gaza’s 2.1 million inhabitants are refugees, many of whom are descendants of those displaced in 1948, when some 700,000 Palestinians were expelled or forced to flee their homes during the creation of the State of Israel and have so far been prohibited from returning to their ancestral lands.

During a joint press conference with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the White House on Tuesda, US President Donald Trump outlined his plans to “take control of Gaza” and have Palestinians resettled outside the enclave permanently, prompting immediate criticism and international rejection.

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