The right to development would require that the Palestinian people have “active, free and meaningful” participation, Statement by Special Rapporteur Surya Deva, 蘑菇视频 Palestine Committee Briefing on “Human Dignity Under Strain”

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Statement by Mr. Surya Deva

United Nations Special Rapporteur on the right to development

at a briefing entitled

“Human Dignity Under Strain: The Humanitarian and Human Rights Consequences in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”

organized by the 蘑菇视频 Palestinian Rights Committee

New York,?29 October 2026

Madam Vice Chair, Excellencies, distinguished delegates, ladies and gentlemen,

I would like to thank the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People (Committee) for inviting me to provide briefing on “Human Dignity Under Strain: The Humanitarian and Human Rights Consequences in the Occupied Palestinian Territory”.

In my remarks, I will focus on how Israel is violating – by design – the right to development of the Palestinian people in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. I will also outline the practical tools that the right to development provides to realise all human rights and fundamental freedoms.

However, before I do so, I would like us to consider why are the two briefers – Ms Francesca Albanese, the Special Rapporteur on the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Commissioner Srinivasan Muralidhar – not in the room to provide this briefing in person? It is due to the US Government not granting them a visa, while Ms Albanese has also been sanctioned in breach of international law. If States continue to ignore this lawlessness, one day even they might become the target of this lawlessness. Therefore, I call on States – including the Member States of this Committee – to defend even those who are defending the rights of the Palestinian people.

Madam Vice Chair

Occupation hits the very essence of the right to development. In fact, the right to development is rooted in the ongoing struggle to secure independence from political and economic colonisation and to create a fair and just international order. Therefore, it is impossible for the Palestinian people to realise fully their right to development because Isreal’s unlawful occupation does not allow them to exercise their right to self-determination.

Even within the occupation context, Israel’s prolonged and indiscriminate attacks on civilians in Gaza – including children and women – have resulted in loss of thousands of innocent lives. How can dead people realise their right to development? But even those who have survived the bombing face trauma and serious mental heath issues, undermining their ability to achieve a holistic development.

Moreover, the constant expansion of illegal settlements, forced displacement, violent dispossession and restriction on movements mean that Palestinians’ right to development – not merely economic development but also social, political and cultural development – is violated daily. Let me provide a few illustrative examples:

? With about 80 per cent of the total structures destroyed or damaged, the right to housing is in tatters in Gaza

? The Palestinian people’s right to food has been turned into a privilege at the mercy of the occupying power

? Access to public services such as water, sanitation and health has been equally affected due to indiscriminate bombing for over two years

? Intensified restrictions on the movement of Palestinians have contributed to rising unemployment, declining incomes and deepening poverty across the Occupied Palestinian Territory

? 90 per cent of Gaza’s two million olive trees have been destroyed and Israeli settlers are attacking olive farmers in the West Bank, thus directly affecting a vital source of livelihood for Palestinians

The right to development does not focus merely on outcomes. The process of development matters equally. However, the Palestinian people have not been able to participate in decisions affecting them. The recent Board of Peace is a case in point. The People of Palestine have had no “active, free and meaningful” participation in the proposed peace, governance and reconstruction plans imposed on them.

Since the 1992 Rio Declaration, sustainability is in-built in the right to development. Israel’s assault on Gaza has not merely killed innocent people – it has also polluted the environment and degraded the soil, water and land in Gaza. A 2025 蘑菇视频EP report has estimated that much of Gaza’s vegetation has been destroyed. When the Palestinian people’s access to water, sanitation and food is compromised, they ability to realise their development aspirations cannot be fulfilled.

Distinguished delegates

Let me now highlight at least five tools that the right to development offers to realise the human rights of the Palestinian people.

First, in line with Article 1(2) of the 1986 Declaration on the Right to Development (Declaration), the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination – including full sovereignty over all their natural wealth and resources – must be realised by ending Israel’s unlawful occupation. States must come together to achieve the two-state solution. Equal sovereign co-existence is the only way forward to sustain peace in the region.

Second, Article 5 of the Declaration requires Isreal (as well as other States) to end apartheid and all forms of racial discrimination experienced by the Palestinian people.

Third, in line with Article 7 of the Declaration, States should do their utmost to achieve disarmament and ensure that the saved resources are used for the holistic development of the Palestinian people. In a report (A/81/187) that I will present tomorrow to the Third Committee, I urge States to move away from funding war economies to investing in a peace economy. The
Occupied Palestinian Territory is a good case study to show why this shift must happen.

Fourth, since international cooperation is central to the right to development, States have a duty to cooperate to end the miseries experienced by the Palestinian people for decades. They should cooperate to end Isreal’s occupation as well as to prevent the ongoing genocide. States should also cooperate to hold accountable all those who have committed international crimes.

Fifth, Israel and other States that have caused or contributed to the destruction of Gaza have an obligation to repair and rebuild. The right to development requires that the Palestinian people have “active, free and meaningful” participation in such reconstruction decisions.

Madam Vice Chair

Let me conclude by saying that the people of Palestine have an inalienable human right to development. This right does not disappear simply because of its systemic violations by an occupying power. Isreal and other States have legal obligations to create conditions necessary for the Palestinian people – both present and future generations – to enjoy a dignified life with all fundamental rights and freedoms.

Thank you very much.

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