26 May 1988

15th plenary meeting

Situation of Palestinian women

The Economic and Social Council,

Referring to the report of the Secretary-General on the situation of Palestinian women living within and outside the occupied Arab territories,

Mindful of the humanitarian principles and provisions of the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War of 12 August 1949,

Recalling the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, in particular paragraph 260,

Noting with deep concern the escalating Israeli oppression and ill-treatment of the Palestinian people, including women and children in the occupied Palestinian territories,

1. Requests the Secretary-General to submit a comprehensive report on the situation of Palestinian women and children inside and outside the occupied Palestinian territories to the Commission on the Status of Women at its thirty-third session;

2. Strongly condemns the application of an "iron-fist" policy by Israel, the occupying Power, against Palestinian women and their families in the occupied Palestinian territories;

3. Reaffirms that the Geneva Convention relative to the Protection of Civilian Persons in Time of War is applicable to territories occupied by Israel since 1967, including Jerusalem;

4. Requests the Secretary-General, as a matter of urgency, to send a mission composed of experts on the status of women to investigate the situation of Palestinian women and children, in the light of the recent tragic developments in the occupied Palestinian territories;

5. Requests the Commission on the Status of Women to monitor the implementation of paragraph 260 of the Nairobi Forward-looking Strategies for the Advancement of Women, concerning assistance to Palestinian women inside and outside the occupied territories;

6. Reaffirms that Palestinian women, as part of a nation whose people are prevented from exercising their basic human and political rights, cannot participate in the attainment of the objectives of the Forward-looking Strategies, namely, equality, development and peace, without the realization of their inalienable right to return to their homes, the right to self-determination and the right to establish an independent State in accordance with the relevant United Nations resolutions.