Top envoy warns rising escalation, Israeli settlement activity in the Middle East

By Anjali Sharma

UNITED NATIONS – UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Tor Wennesland on Thursday briefed the UN Security Council members and voiced grave concern over the growing risk of widescale regional escalation.

“The series of explosions across Lebanon and rockets fired toward Israel in recent days adds to the volatility,” said Tor Wennesland.

He urged all sides “to refrain from steps that will further exacerbate the situation and take immediate steps to de-escalate.”

Mr. Wennesland made the appeal prior to updating ambassadors on the implementation of Security Council resolution 2334 (2016), which demands that Israel end all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.

“Settlement activity has, nevertheless, continued,” he said, speaking via videoconference from Washington, DC, where he met with US officials.

UN latest report on the issue covers the period from 11 June to 11 September, falling after the ongoing war in Gaza and alarmed levels of violence in the West Bank.

It said some 6,730 housing units were advanced or approved in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem.  Construction tenders also were published for approximately 1,100 housing units in settlements, including 780 in East Jerusalem.

Israel Defense Forces Central Command signed a military order on 18 July amended a 1995 order that implemented the Oslo Accords the first direct peace agreement between the sides.

The move granted the local military commander authority over planning and construction in certain parts of Area B in the West Bank that had been transferred to the Palestinian Authority.

Demolitions and seizures of Palestinian-owned structures also continued.

He said “Citing the lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain, Israeli authorities demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 373 structures, displacing 553 people, including 247 children. 26 of these structures were donor funded.”

Israel continued to evict Palestinians from their homes in East Jerusalem, the report stated.

He highlighted the case of the Shehadeh family who were removed from their home in Silwan on 15 August, in favour of a settler organization, following a Supreme Court ruling.

Mr. Wennesland said the eviction displaced 35 people, while 188 Palestinians, including 111 children, left their occupied West Bank communities due to violence and harassment by settlers, and shrinking grazing land.

He noted that the reporting period also saw the International Court of Justice (ICJ) issue an Advisory Opinion on 19 July reaffirming that Israeli settlements were being maintained in violation of international law, and that new activity should cease.

Israel’s continued presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory was “unlawful” and should be brought to an end as rapidly as possible.

Mr. Wennesland addressed the conflict in Gaza, noted that the Secretary-General reported that the level of suffering there is unprecedented in his mandate at the helm of the global body.

Mr. Guterres said that in order to address the immense humanitarian needs and improve the intolerable conditions of civilians, Israel must fully open all crossings into the enclave.

Israel must also facilitate the immediate, safe, and unhindered delivery of humanitarian assistance at scale directly to the Palestinian civilian population throughout Gaza, in accordance with its obligations under international humanitarian law.

Helen Clark, a former Prime Minister of New Zealand and the head of the UNDP is a member of the group of eminent global public figures known as The Elders, which has made resolution of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict a priority since its founding in 2007 by the late Nelson Mandela.

She said implementation of resolution 2334 “is acutely relevant to the current devastating phase of the conflict” and to any chance of a two-State solution.

“But its failure so far also poses an existential question: can the Security Council enforce its own resolutions? This is surely crucial to its credibility,” she said.

Ms. Clark emphasized that the Council has a responsibility to chart a path towards a sustainable peace, and a full, immediate and complete ceasefire in Gaza is an indispensable step.  Therefore, it was “deeply disturbing” that a Council resolution calling for a ceasefire remains unimplemented.

She highlighted the need for a new approach, grounded in international law, including enforcement of UN Security Council resolutions.

“Council members who question the binding status of these resolutions, or who use their veto to protect an ally or to oppose a geo-political rival, are eroding the Council’s authority. They also undermine their own reputations and long-term interests,” she said.

She added that all UN Member States are also bound to respect and comply with ICJ decisions which include the provisional measures ordered to protect Palestinians in Gaza.

ICJ Advisory Opinion a non binding “is an authoritative, landmark ruling,” and she urged the UN General Assembly and Security Council to pass resolutions indorsing it and setting out what action is required by Israel, other Member States, and the UN to end the occupation.

“The Elders welcome the passing of the General Assembly Resolution on this issue yesterday. How will the Security Council respond to the Advisory Opinion?” Ms. Clark asked.

The Ambassadsor for the Observer State of Palestine Riyad Mansour told the Council that the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory is “beyond grave”, and “there are no words left to describe Gaza’s agony”.

Riyad Mansour said Israel “claims for itself all the rights afforded by international law and the Charter of this United Nations, while rejecting and breaching all the obligations”.

He said the Council’s role is to uphold international law, not to bend it to fit Israeli breaches, or to sacrifice the UN Charter to accommodate the country.

“That is the action needed to uphold international law, to implement UN resolutions, including 2334 which we are debating and discussing and reporting on its implementation, not merely more words to decry this abhorrent situation,” he said.

Permanent Representative of Israel to the UN Danny Danon said the Council remains “trapped in endless debates” as the world experiences a period of extraordinary instability.

“We gather here time and time again, like surgeons debating how to stitch a wound while the patient bleeds out before us.  The longer this body remains blind to the reality, the greater the cost that the world will pay,” he warned.

Mr. Danon said Israel is on “the frontline in a battle that threatens the entire region and the world,” and stands firm as it faces down “the forces of the most oppressive regime in the world, the Islamic Republic of Iran.”

He stressed that the Council and the world must wake up to the reality of this threat.

“The dark force driving the violence we see today is not a collection of independent groups. It is Iran pulling the strings,” he added.