New york: Palestinian UN envoy Riyad Mansour emphasized on Tuesday that the Gaza Strip is an inseparable part of the occupied Palestinian territory and belongs to the Palestinian people. "Gaza is not a piece of land that is hanging in the air for anyone to grab. It belongs to its people. It belongs to the Palestinian people," Mansour declared at the opening session of the UN Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People.

According to Anadolu Agency, Mansour welcomed the Gaza ceasefire and highlighted the cooperation of all parties involved, including the US, but underscored that the ceasefire must be lasting. He stated that the ceasefire should "not be fragile" and added, "Israel should not continue to go and kill our people as they wish in the Gaza Strip and other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory."

Mansour stressed the importance of humanitarian access, stating, "Humanitarian assistance has to be allowed to reach all corners of the Gaza Strip," and that "humanitarians, including the United Nations, including UNRWA (UN Palestinian refugee agency), should be allowed to continue carrying their mandates and their responsibilities."

He expressed the need for the withdrawal of Israeli forces, welcoming the move into the second phase of the ceasefire signed in late October. Mansour reaffirmed that the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and Gaza "constitute a single territorial unit" that must be unified under the Palestinian Authority. He called for Israel to "fully and without delay, withdraw from the Gaza Strip," describing it as essential for any international stabilization effort.