<\/p>\n
19 September 2024<\/p>\n
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The relentless expansion of Israeli settlements and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are deeply alarming,\u00a0the top United Nations official for the Middle East told the Security Council today, as delegates urged the organ to enforce its own demand for the occupier to cease such illegal activities.<\/p>\n
\u201cIsraeli policies and practices are systematically altering the land in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, creating dangerous dynamics and an existential threat to the two-state solution,\u201d said Tor Wennesland, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process<\/strong> in his briefing to the 15-member Council covering developments from 11\u00a0June to 11\u00a0September.<\/p>\n In total, some 6,370\u00a0housing units were advanced or approved in settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, he said.\u00a0Citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, \u201cwhich are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain\u201d, Israeli authorities demolished, seized, or forced people to demolish 373\u00a0structures, displacing 553\u00a0people, including 247\u00a0children.<\/p>\n \u201cI reiterate that the establishment by Israel of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since\u00a01967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law,\u201d he stressed, highlighting the international community\u2019s growing demand to end such activities, as set out in Council resolution\u00a02334\u00a0(2016) and the 19\u00a0July advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice.<\/p>\n From 28\u00a0August to 6\u00a0September, the\u00a0Israel Defense Forces conducted its largest operation in the occupied West Bank since\u00a02002, stating that it was targeting Hamas and Palestinian Islamic Jihad members and infrastructure, he continued. \u00a0Dozens of Palestinians have been killed.<\/p>\n \u201cThe failure to implement Council resolution\u00a02334\u00a0(2016) poses an existential question,\u201d said Helen Clark, Member of the Elders, asking if the organ can enforce its own resolutions. \u00a0Council members who question the binding status of their body’s resolutions or use their veto to protect an ally are not only eroding the Council’s authority, but also undermining their long-term interests.\u00a0Welcoming Wednesday\u2019s adoption of the General Assembly resolution concerning the\u00a0International Court of Justice\u2019s\u00a0advisory opinion on this matter, she asked: \u00a0\u201cHow will the Council respond to the advisory opinion?\u201d<\/p>\n Proposing a set of guiding principles to underpin a pathway towards sustainable peace, she said that full UN membership and recognition of the State of Palestine should be supported by all Council members and other States.\u00a0 \u201cStatehood is not dependent on peace negotiations [\u2026] and should not have to wait for governance reforms,\u201d she said, adding that the security of Palestinians and Israelis must be given equal weighting.\u00a0 \u201cIsrael\u2019s security concerns do not justify unlawful occupation or annexation,\u201d she emphasized.<\/p>\n The Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine<\/strong> said that both the International Court of Justice and the General Assembly acted \u2014 \u201cbecause there are no veto powers in these two institutions\u201d, asking: \u201cWill the Security Council follow them?\u201d\u00a0 The Assembly adopted the 18 September resolution \u2014 \u201cthe first-ever presented by the State of Palestine\u201d, he noted \u2014 because the Council failed to exercise its primary responsibility.\u00a0 Eight years have passed since the adoption of resolution 2334 (2016), over which Israel has violated the text \u2014 just like every other \u2014 persisting in its breaches of the most-fundamental rules of international law.\u00a0 Urging the Council to ensure respect for its resolutions, he underscored that anyone who expects Palestinians to \u201ccoexist with their chains\u201d is \u201ctruly misguided\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s delegate<\/strong> stressed the need for his country to defend itself, including in the West Bank, from \u201cthe most oppressive regime in the world\u201d \u2014 Iran, which is flooding Judea and Samaria with explosives, grenades and advanced weaponry to turn them into \u201canother Gaza\u201d.\u00a0There is no territorial dispute, no shared resources and no violent history.\u00a0 \u201cThe only reason is their fanatical ideology, festering hatred against the existence of our religion and State,\u201d he said.\u00a0 Iran’s grand ambition is \u201cthe creation of a Shiite supremacist empire\u201d across the Middle East and beyond, through proxies including Hizbullah, Hamas, Palestinian Islamic Jihad and the Houthis.\u00a0 The Palestinian Authority is \u201cactively collaborating with these terrible networks,\u201d he said, adding that it still refuses to condemn Hamas.<\/p>\n In the discussion among Council members, the representative of the United States<\/strong> highlighted impediments to the resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. \u00a0Unilateral measures \u2014 such as settlements and \u201cone-sided resolutions in New York\u201d \u2014 will not bring about a two-State solution, he said, citing the ceasefire deal as \u201cthe best chance to tackle the humanitarian crisis and address regional stability\u201d.\u00a0 Condemning Hamas\u2019 total indifference to Palestinian civilians in Gaza, he said that the Council should encourage Hamas to accept the deal on the table. \u00a0He also observed that Israel\u2019s programme of support for the expansion of settlements is inconsistent with international law and only serves to weaken Israel\u2019s security.<\/p>\n The representative of the Russian<\/strong> Federation<\/strong> said that Israeli leadership \u2014 thanks to the United States \u2014 is achieving its objective to expel the West Bank’s Palestinian population.\u00a0 More and more settler outposts are being established and Palestinian homes are being demolished.\u00a0 And \u201cyet, none of our Western colleagues have voiced any concern about the erasure of Palestinian identity\u201d, he stressed. \u00a0The United States continues to block any attempts to set out a just assessment of Israel\u2019s actions.\u00a0 Council members must summon political will and courage and adopt a decision for a ceasefire in Gaza and measures to enforce compliance. \u00a0\u201cPressure needs to be exerted, not so much on Hamas, but rather on our American colleagues who continue to regard both the Council and multilateral diplomacy as an unneeded burden,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n The region is \u201con the edge of an abyss\u201d, warned Algeria\u2019s<\/strong> delegate<\/strong>.\u00a0 The Israeli occupying Power is relentlessly pursuing ethnic cleansing in Gaza and creating a new fait accompli in the West Bank. \u00a0The\u00a0International Court of Justice advisory opinion states that the precise modalities for ending Israel’s unlawful presence in the occupied Palestinian territory are matters for the Assembly and the Council to address, he said, urging the latter to act.<\/p>\n Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for European and Foreign Affairs of Slovenia<\/strong> \u2014 Council President for September \u2014 spoke in her national capacity, expressing hope that peace returns to Gaza and the West Bank.\u00a0 For that, she underscored that \u201cnegative trends must be met with positive and concrete steps\u201d.\u00a0 \u00a0Mothers should be able to send their children to school without teaching them how to use a shelter and without worrying if they will be detained.<\/p>\n Other Member States expressed deep alarm at Israel\u2019s growing settlement activity with the representative of\u00a0Malta<\/strong> observing that the situation in the occupied West Bank has degraded \u201crapidly and steadily\u201d.\u00a0 Since 7\u00a0October\u00a02023, Israeli incursions into Palestinian cities regularly comprise military operations, which include air strikes, destruction of infrastructure and the unlawful use of force.\u00a0 Guyana\u2019s<\/strong> representative<\/strong> underscored that the danger of Israeli settler policy lies in the fact that it is intended to alter the demographic composition, character and status of the Palestinian territories.\u00a0 \u201cFrance will never recognize the illegal annexation of territory, nor the legalization of illegal settlements,\u201d added its representative.<\/p>\n Speakers further spotlighted the pain Israel\u2019s illegal settlement policies cause to Palestinians.\u00a0 The representative of Sierra<\/strong> Leone<\/strong> said that the resumption of violence in the Northern West Bank in the Tulkarm, Nur Shams and El Far\u2019a camps, has suspended access of basic services to civilians.\u00a0 The United<\/strong> Kingdom\u2019s<\/strong> delegate<\/strong> expressed alarm that an increasing number of Israeli settlers use harassment, intimidation and violence to pressure Palestinian communities to leave their land. \u00a0She also called for an end to the inflammatory rhetoric from Israeli Ministers, which fuels aggression towards Palestinians and humanitarian workers.\u00a0 Switzerland\u2019s<\/strong> diplomat<\/strong> added that civilian infrastructure must be off limits to attacks and bombardments.<\/p>\n Delegates also underscored the 15-member body has a responsibility to act with Mozambique\u2019s<\/strong> speaker<\/strong> recalling the Council\u2019s mighty\u00a0role in facilitating negotiations between parties involved.\u00a0 China\u2019s<\/strong> representative<\/strong> called for political will and diplomacy to tackle the question of Palestine, \u201cnot an endless stream of arms and ammunition\u201d, recalling the \u201chistoric\u201d nature of the 18\u00a0September Assembly resolution.<\/p>\n \u201cThe vicious cycle of destruction, death and vengeance must end now,\u201d echoed Ecuador\u2019s<\/strong> representative<\/strong>.\u00a0 Many others, such as the representative of the Republic<\/strong> of Korea<\/strong>, also stressed the need for an immediate ceasefire, the release of hostages, combined with a surge in humanitarian aid throughout Gaza. \u00a0He also said Hamas must stop endangering civilians by using civilian infrastructure for military purposes. \u00a0But, even before a ceasefire is achieved, Japan\u2019s delegate stressed, the international community must make plans for early recovery and reconstruction in Gaza. \u201cJust removing the rubble will take decades,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" 19 September 2024 9728th Meeting (AM) The relentless expansion of Israeli settlements and escalating violence in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, are deeply alarming,\u00a0the top United Nations official for the Middle East told the Security Council today, as delegates urged the organ to enforce its own demand for the occupier to 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