The General Assembly this afternoon began its consideration of the question of Palestine and the situation in the Middle East. Before the Assembly is the report of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, the report of the Secretary-General on the Peaceful Settlement of the Question of Palestine, the report of the Secretary-General on the situation in the Middle East, a draft resolution entitled Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, a draft resolution on the division for Palestinian Rights of the Secretariat, and a text, entitled Peaceful settlement of the question of Palestine. Read more about General Assembly debates question of Palestine (1/2) 

Yasser Arafat’s memory should serve as an inspiration to unite and strengthen the Palestinian people in their efforts to realize their national aspirations to statehood and self-determination through peaceful means, Secretary-General Kofi Annan told the Palestinian Rights Committee this morning as it observed the International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People. As the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People- began its observance with a moment of silence in memory of the late President of the Palestinian Authority, the Secretary-General noted that the Palestinian people had endured a dismal existence of grinding poverty and dispossession. Read more about Arafat's memory should strengthen Palestinian efforts to realize statehood, UN SG says at observance of international day of solidarity 

Concluding its work for the current session, the Fourth Committee this afternoon took action on nine draft resolutions — approving four texts relating to the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and five on Israeli practices in territories occupied since 1967. The Committee approved, by a vote of 154 in favour to 1 against (Israel) with 9 abstentions, a draft on assistance to Palestinian refugees, by which the Assembly would extend UNRWA’s mandate until June 2008, and call on all donors to make the most generous efforts possible to meet the Agency’s anticipated needs, including those mentioned in recent emergency appeals. Read more about UN committee concludes work with resolutions on Israeli practices in occupied territory 

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan today met with fellow members of the so-called diplomatic Quartet seeking to bring peace to the Middle East and told reporters afterwards he believed the time was now ripe to move ahead with a settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict after four years of violence in the region.”We are all encouraged by what is happening,” Mr. Annan said in Sharm-el-Sheikh, Egypt, after talks with top officials of the European Union, Russia and the United States, the three other sponsors of the Road Map plan calling for parallel and reciprocal steps by both sides leading to two States living in peace by the end of 2005. Read more about Annan voices hope for movement in Middle East peace process 

As one of the first acts of the European Commission, the Commissioner for External Relations and the European Neighbourhood Policy Benita Ferrero-Waldner has decided to deploy an EU Election Observer Mission (EOM) to observe the Presidential Elections in the West Bank and Gaza scheduled for 9th January 2005. The decision is a concrete expression of the EU’s effort to support the development of democratic institutions and stability in the Palestinian Territories. The presence of the EOM and the reporting of its observers will help to increase transparency and build confidence in the election process. Read more about EU to send election observation mission to Palestine 

Returning to its consideration of promotion and protection of the rights of the child, the Third Committee took up the draft on the Situation of and Assistance to Palestinian Children by which it would have the General Assembly express deep concern about the negative consequences, including psychological consequences, of the Israeli military actions for the present and future well-being of Palestinian children. The text has the Assembly demand that Israel respect relevant provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child and comply fully with the provisions of the Fourth Geneva Convention.  It also calls upon the international community to provide urgently needed assistance. Read more about Third Committee adopts resolution on Palestinian children 

The UN Food and Agriculture Agency has alerted Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, Saudi Arabia and Sudan of the possibility of a few desert locust swarms arriving from northern Egypt. “It is possible that a small number of locust swarms could arrive in these countries,” said Mahmoud Solh, Director, Plant Production and Protection Division. “Countries should not expect successive waves of swarms like in the Maghreb countries; there is definitely no reason to panic,” he said. FAO called upon countries to look out for any locust swarms and undertake control operations as early as possible. Swarms have now moved further east towards the Sinai, the Gulf of Suez and the Red Sea. Locusts have already arrived on the Mediterranean coast of northern Sinai, 100 kilometres west of Gaza. Read more about A few locust swarms could cross Gulf of Suez and Red Sea, FAO warns 

The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) today launched a $185.8 million emergency appeal for the occupied Palestinian territory (oPt). The funding will allow the Agency to carry out crucial relief operations to the 1.6 million refugees in the West Bank and Gaza throughout 2005. This year has seen the worst levels of destruction of the four year intifada, as Israel has employed drastic measures against Palestinian militants firing rockets from Gaza and other security threats. The accelerating levels of demolitions, increasing deaths and injuries, and strict movement restrictions have contributed to ever-growing hardship for the refugee population. Over 2.2 million people in the oPt are now surviving on less than $2 per person per day. Read more about UN refugee agency appeals for $186 million in emergency relief for Palestine 

Meeting formally this morning for the first time since President Yasser Arafat’s death, the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People approved four draft resolutions, including one by which the General Assembly would demand the immediate cessation of all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory as well as Israel’s withdrawal from Palestinian territory occupied since 1967. The Committee also considered recent developments in the Middle East. Read more about Acting on four draft resolutions, Palestinian Rights Committee urges action to end Israel's settlement activities 

The UN Committee on Special Political and Decolonization (also known as the Fourth Committee) decided this afternoon to defer action on nine draft resolutions — four relating to the work of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) and five on Israeli practices in Arab territories occupied since 1967. It made that decision at the request of the representative of the Netherlands, acting on behalf of the European Union and associated States, and the observer for Palestine. The introduction of the texts followed in-depth consideration of the report by UNRWA’s Commissioner-General as well as that of the Special Committee to Investigate Israeli Practices. Read more about EU delays action on nine draft resolutions on Palestine