Palestinian congress demands UN implement Right to Return

Palestinian National Council (PNC) demanded that the United Nations implement Resolution 194 to enable Palestinian refugees to return to their homes and villages in Israel in a statement released on Saturday in commemoration of the 68th anniversary of the 1948 Nakba.

The statement underscored the commitment of Palestinians to the right of all Palestinian refugees and those internally displaced to return to their homes and villages in Israel, adding that the Right to Return is a “holy and non-negotiable right that can never be given up.”

The statement said Israel will never have peace or security until it acknowledges Palestinians' right to return to their homes and ends the illegal military occupation of the West Bank, Quds ('Jerusalem'), and the devastating blockade on the Gaza Strip.

The council cited extra-judicial killings, torture of prisoners, and the continued expulsion of Palestinians from their lands as few of many crimes routinely committed by Israeli forces against Palestinians.

PNC emphasized that Palestinians will continue to fight and resist the Israeli occupation with "all means available" until their internationally-recognized rights, goals of freedom, independence, and hopes of establishing a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as its capital are realized and achieved.