Malta joins 90 UN Member States condemning Israel’s punitive measures against Palestinians

Malta is one of many signatories expressing deep concern over Israel's imposition of punitive measures against Palestinians, as stated in a statement by the UN Member States

Malta is among the 90 UN Member States that have rejected “punitive measures against the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society” in a statement condemning Israel's actions.

In the statement, 39 signatories expressed deep concern on the measures taken by Israel after the General Assembly adopted a resolution requesting an advisory opinion by the International Court of Justice.  

In December, the 193-member General Assembly voted in favour of a resolution to refer Israel to the International Court of Justice. 87 states voted in favour and 26 voted against. Another 3 countries abstained from the vote.

Israel retaliated by imposing punitive measures against Palestinians. The government’s Security Cabinet decided to withhold $39 million from the Palestinian Authority and transfer the funds to a compensation program for families of Israeli victims of Palestinian militant attacks.

It also decided to deduct revenues usually transferred to the Palestinian authority by a sum equal to the amount paid last year to families of Palestinian prisoners and people killed in conflict.  

Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observor of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, welcomed the statement from UN Member States.

“Any country that believes in multilateralism and is committed to the international-law based order cannot but oppose such punitive measures that target and affect the Palestinian people, leadership and civil society,” Mansour said.

He pointed out that the signatories include countries that voted in favour, but also  countries that abstained or voted against the resolution.

The list of signatories include:  Algeria (as Chair of the Arab summit), Argentina, Belgium, Brazil, Bulgaria, Chile, Cuba, Cyprus, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Iceland, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Latvia, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Malta, Mexico, Namibia, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan (as Chair of OIC), Poland, Portugal, Republic of Korea, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, South Africa, Spain, Sweden, and Switzerland.