U.N. Council Urges Direct Aid for Palestinian’s Benefit

The United Nations Economic and Social Council, meeting here, has passed a resolution urging world bodies to assure that any assistance they send to the Israeli-administered territories directly benefits the Palestinian people, in cooperation with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The council, concluding its second regular session early this week, urged the international community, the United Nations system and intergovernmental and non-governmental organizations to disburse their aid, or any other forms of assistance, to what it called the occupied Palestinian territories, solely for the benefit of the Palestinian people and in a manner that will not serve to prolong the Israeli presence.

The council requested that international organizations sustain and increase their assistance to the Palestinian people in close cooperation with the Palestine Liberation Organization.

The council also decided to extend to what they call the occupied Palestinian territories the same preferential treatment accorded the least developed countries, pending the end of the Israeli presence, and the assumption of full control by the Palestinian people over their national economy without external interference.

The U.N. council requested that U.N. bodies not extend any form of assistance to Israel. It emphasized that aid was not and could not be a substitute for a genuine and just solution to the question of Palestine.

In addition, the council called for the provision of emergency assistance to the Palestinian people in the territories, including the dispatch of teams of orthopedic surgeons.