Statement by His Excellency Dr Ali Naseer Mohamed, Ambassador, Permanent Representative of the Maldives to the United Nations
30 July 2025, New York
Co-chairs,
Distinguished leaders,
Assalamu alaikum,
This Conference must mark a turning point to end the Israel-Palestine conflict.
It is a historic opportunity to restore justice and enforce accountability.
For a region long shrouded in conflict and suffering, this Conference can create momentum to realize the two-state solution.
In 1947, the General Assembly promised that two peoples could live side by side—in peace, dignity, and sovereignty.
The reality today is stark:
Over 100,000 Palestinians wounded, over 50,000 killed—more than 17,000 of them children.
The world cannot stand idle while children die from deliberately imposed hunger.
This is unfolding before our eyes.
Yet Israel’s actions remain impervious to pleas, its impunity blocking every attempt to end the suffering.
We must not normalize such devastation or become desensitized to the loss of innocent life.
In moments like this, diplomacy and multilateralism must not retreat—they must rise.
We need more action, not just condemnation; more cooperation, not polarization.
The Maldives stands today with unwavering moral clarity.
We may be small, but we have never wavered in standing for what is right.
This is why we recognized the State of Palestine in 1988.
This is why the Maldives has filed a declaration of intervention at ICJ for the Application of the Genocide Convention in the Gaza Strip.
This is why we argued before the Court that Israel’s actions violate Palestinian human rights and demanded humanitarian access.
Let us begin with the truth:
The State of Palestine exists. One hundred forty-seven countries in this Hall recognize it, and more have expressed their intent to do so.
The Palestinian flag flies outside this Hall.
Its sovereignty and its people must not be erased.
From Gaza to the West Bank to East Jerusalem, Palestinians have the inalienable right to remain, to return, and to govern a State of their own—freely and fully.
The targeting of UNRWA must stop.
Defunding a humanitarian lifeline during famine and massacre is not policy—it is cruelty.
Humanitarian workers are not the enemy. Nor are journalists.
Aid is not optional. Nor is the obligation to protect civilians.
The Maldives believes in one just, lasting solution: two states, two peoples, one peace.
But there can be no peace without justice. Israel must be held accountable for the lives it has taken, for the homes it has destroyed, for the futures it has killed.
And for the hope it has extinguished.
Reparations, restitution, and redress is the bare minimum.
The Maldives supports the Arab Reconstruction Plan—with technical expertise, financial support, and moral leadership—and urges others to do the same.
This is how we begin to restore humanity to a people who have lost everything.
Let every child in Palestine grow with dignity and hope for the future they deserve.
I thank you.
