The top UN envoy for the Middle East peace process told
the UN
Security Council on Monday that three months after the deadly
escalation in violence between Israel and militants in the Gaza
Strip, the situation there remains tense.
Special Coordinator Tor Wennesland,
welcomed Qatar’s contribution of $40 million to provide cash
assistance to needy families in the Hamas-controlled enclave, but
warned of continuing violence across the whole Occupied
Palestinian Territory.
He told ambassadors that tensions along the Gaza perimeter fence,
reached a peak on 21 August, when hundreds of Palestinians
attended a rally, describing the throwing of stones and
reportedly, improvised explosive devices, towards Israeli
security personnel.
Israeli forces fired on Palestinian protestors, injuring 51
Palestinians, including 25 children. Reiterating that children
must never be targeted, Mr. Wennesland called on all sides to
show restraint, avoid provocations at the fence and keep the
protests peaceful.
Palestinian deaths
Drawing attention to a number of Palestinian deaths in July and
August, he highlighted the killing of an 11-year-old Palestinian
boy in Beit Ummar on 28 July, after Israeli security forces fired
at the car he was travelling in with his father and siblings.
While Israeli authorities have opened an investigation, he added
that the next day, security personnel killed a 20-year-old
Palestinian man, amid clashes during the boy’s funeral.
Also voicing concern about Israeli settler violence against
Palestinian civilians, he said further measures must be taken to
ensure that Israel fulfils its obligation to better protect
Palestinian civilians.
He called on Israeli security forces to exercise maximum
restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly
unavoidable in order to protect life.
End arrests of rights defenders
Noting that on 21 August, Palestinian security forces arrested 23
people, including well-known human rights defenders and lawyers,
in Ramallah for their participation in a planned demonstration,
the Special Coordinator called on the Palestinian Authority,
which governs the West Bank, to immediately stop arrests of human
rights defenders on charges that violate their right to freedom
of expression.
Mr. Wennesland pointed to recent seizures of Palestinian-owned
structures in East Jerusalem and urged Israeli authorities to
desist.
Noting a gradual and partial easing of the access restrictions in
Gaza by Israeli authorities, he said that for the first time in
18 months, permits will be given to 2,000 Palestinian traders and
350 businesspeople, to cross from Gaza into Israel.
However, the volume of trade still remains below pre-escalation
levels, he noted, adding that no amount of humanitarian or
economic support on its own will address the challenges facing
Gaza.
The Security Council meets to discuss the Middle East and the
Palestinian question.
Political solutions
“Gaza requires political solutions that will see a full lifting
of Israeli closures, the return of a legitimate Palestinian
Government and the establishment of an independent, sovereign
Palestinian State,” he said.
Commenting on militant group Hamas’s takeover of a UN Relief and
Works Agency (UNRWA) school, he said the agency had declared its
institutions “inviolable at all times” and protested the move.
“While the school was subsequently vacated by Hamas, such actions
undermine the inviolability and neutrality of UNRWA premises and
compromise the safety return of children to their schools on
time”, he said.
Turning to the “precarious” state of the Palestinian Authority’s
finances, he said that Israel continues to deduct from the
monthly transfer of clearance revenues, an amount equivalent to
what it calculates is paid by the Palestinian Authority “to the
families of prisoners and martyrs”.
Positive engagement
Also noting meetings between Israeli Ministers and their
Palestinian counterparts, as well as a meeting on Sunday between
Israeli Defence Minister Benny Gantz and President Abbas, he
described the latter as “the highest-level meeting between the
two sides since the formation of the current Israeli Government.”
“No positive, hopeful step should be wasted”, he said, calling
for serious political efforts to return to meaningful
negotiations that will address all final status issues, achieve a
negotiated end to the occupation, and the vision of two States
living side-by-side.
