RAMALLAH, Oct. 31 (Xinhua) -- Palestinian Foreign Minister Riyad al-Maliki on Monday called for stopping and destroying Israel's nuclear programs to establish a nuclear-weapon-free zone.
Al-Maliki made the appeal in response to the adoption by the First Committee of the UN General Assembly of a resolution submitted by Egypt urging Israel to get rid of its nuclear weapons.
Welcoming the adoption of the resolution, the Palestinian foreign minister said, "Israel is obliged to set its programs to be monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) as it is the only party in the Middle East that possesses weapons of mass destruction, especially nuclear weapons."
It is essential that Israel has to abide by the relevant rules of international law, he said.
Israeli media reported on Monday that the First Committee of the UN General Assembly decided via a 152-5 vote that Israel should destroy its nuclear weapons.
The resolution, submitted by Egypt and supported by Jordan, Morocco, the Palestinian Authority and Bahrain, also called on Israel to place its nuclear facilities under the supervision of the IAEA.
The UN General Assembly's First Committee is one of the six major committees of the UN that deals with global nuclear disarmament issues.
In an unprecedented step, the committee called on Israel to accede to the Nuclear Proliferation Treaty without delay, not to develop, manufacture, test, or otherwise obtain nuclear weapons, and to desist from acquiring nuclear weapons. ■
