Intense diplomatic efforts by the United Nations and Egypt have
helped avoid another Israeli-Palestinian war in Gaza that
appeared just “minutes away” over the past weekend, a senior UN
official said on Tuesday.
“After intense efforts by the United Nations and Egypt, I can
report that the situation is calming down, although
tensions remain,” Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for
the Middle East peace process, told the Security Council via
video link from Jerusalem.
He said that “last Saturday we were minutes away from
another devastating confrontation between Israel and Hamas in
Gaza”.
The enclave bordered by Israel and the Mediterranean has been
controlled by a Palestinian militant faction, Hamas, since 2007.
Israel has blocked the movements of Palestinians from Gaza.
After intense efforts by the United Nations and Egypt, I
can report that the situation is calming down, although
tensions remain - UN Special Coordinator
The UN has said the root causes of the intractable conflict there
include a more than 50-year occupation by Israel of the
Palestinian territory; its years-long blockade of Gaza; Hamas’s
continuing control of the enclave, and the division between
Palestine’s two political factions, Fatah and Hamas.
Briefing the Council on recent developments around Gaza, Mr.
Mladenov said that “over the last two weeks, the situation
quickly spiralled out of control, nearly to a point of
no-return”.
The past month, he said, has witnessed one of the largest
escalations since the most recent 2014 Israel-Gaza conflict.
Nineteen Palestinians, including seven children, were killed by
Israel Defense Forces (IDF) in Gaza, during protests, clashes,
and airstrikes, and over 1,000 were injured.
One IDF soldier was killed by gunfire from Gaza last week, while
four Israeli civilians and an IDF soldier were moderately
injured, respectively, by rocket fire and a hand grenade attack.
Hamas and other militants fired 283 rockets and mortars from Gaza
towards Israel, while The Israeli Air Force (IAF) fired some 189
missiles and artillery shells against targets in Gaza.
Mr. Mladenov said he travelled to Gaza on 15 July and earlier on
Tuesday, in an urgent effort to de-escalate tensions, appealing
to Palestinian factions not to provoke incidents at the fence, to
immediately stop the firing of rockets and mortars and to stop
the incendiary kites and balloons. He appealed to Israel to fully
reopen border crossings, stop shelling, particularly in
populated areas, and to exercise restraint towards Gaza.
“I returned to Jerusalem from Gaza just an hour ago and am
hopeful that with collective efforts by all sides we can avoid
another war, allow Palestinians in Gaza and Israelis in
communities across the border to sleep in peace and begin
addressing all humanitarian issues,” he said.
On Sunday, the UN warned that supplies of
emergency fuel provided by the world body for critical facilities
in Gaza are running out.
Mr. Mladenov said that on Tuesday, the first 100,000 litres of
much-needed fuel were allowed through the Kerem Shalom crossing,
to be distributed by the UN to hospitals and emergency services.
Turning to the Syrian Golan Heights, he said that recent
developments on the Golan have heightened tensions.
He said that a few hours ago, the Israeli Defence Forces reported
that it fired two missiles, which shot down a Syrian fighter jet
that they claim had infiltrated nearly two kilometres into
Israeli airspace.
“We are closely monitoring the situation,” he said.
