The possibility of establishing a “viable, contiguous Palestinian
state” has been “systematically eroded by facts on the ground,”
Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East
Peace Process, briefed the Security Council on Tuesday, ahead of
the quarterly open debate on the Middle East (Israel/Palestine).
Mr. Mladenov began his downbeat assessment by detailing the
extent and growth of Israeli settlements in the occupied West
Bank: the UN’s long-standing position on settlements, he reminded
the Council, is that they are illegal under international law and
“an obstacle to peace.” Recent examples include plans for over
3,000 housing units in West Bank settlements, and government
plans to legalize several illegal outposts. At the same time,
said Mr. Mladenov, Palestinian-owned structures have been
demolished and seized across the West Bank, including East
Jerusalem, with authorities citing a lack of Israeli-issued
building permits, which are nearly impossible for Palestinians to
obtain, as justification.
The foundations of a future Palestinian state are also being
threatened by internal divisions, exacerbated by decades of
occupation, and hopes for genuine intra-Palestinian, he added,
are “fading by the day,” as the gap between Gaza and the West
Bank widens. The early January arrest by Hamas of dozens of Fatah
members in Gaza, was described by Mr. Mladenov as “particularly
alarming,” and a “very serious blow to the reconciliation
process.”
It is ordinary Palestinians, said the Special Envoy, who are
bearing the brunt of the suffering, and the humanitarian
situation in Gaza remains “desperate” : economic growth is
insufficient to keep the Palestinian economy afloat, and the UN
is working with the Palestinian Authority to address some of
Gaza’s most pressing needs, such as maintaining an electricity
supply, delivering essential medicines and implementing
cash-for-work programmes.
The Special Envoy’s briefing was delivered on the same day that
senior UN officials and NGO partners called for a halt to plans
to forcibly evict several Palestinian refugee families from the
Sheikh Jarrah neighbourhood of East Jerusalem, part of the
occupied Palestinian territory. In a statement, the officials
said that forcible transfer is a “grave breach of the Fourth
Geneva Convention,” and called on the Israeli authorities to
“cease settlement construction, and abide by their obligations as
an occupying power under international humanitarian law and
international human rights law.”
Mr. Mladenov wrapped up his briefing with a warning that the
Palestinian Question risks descending into endless conflict and
the steady rise of radicalization on all sides, and that, within
the current political landscape, those seeking to bridge the gap
between Israelis and Palestinians are being undermined.
You can find more information on the Middle East open
debate here.
