Tor Wennesland, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, was briefing ambassadors throughout one in all his common briefings within the Security Council.
“I reiterate that all Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity and are in flagrant violation of international law and relevant UN resolutions,” he said.
“I urge the Government of Israel to cease all settlement activity immediately.”
He additionally famous intensified armed exchanges between Palestinians and Israeli safety forces alongside deadly assaults by Palestinians towards Israelis and by Israeli settlers towards Palestinians.
“All perpetrators of violence must be held accountable and swiftly brought to justice,” he added, reiterating that the occupying safety forces “must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when it is strictly unavoidable to protect life.”
Israel-Hezbollah tensions
Mr. Wennesland additionally expressed severe issues in regards to the risk of escalation between Israel and Hezbollah along the Blue Line – the frontier separating Lebanese and Israeli armed forces – calling for pressing steps to de-escalate.
He reiterated the Secretary-General’s concern that additional army escalation will solely assure extra struggling, extra devastation to communities on each side, and “more potentially catastrophic consequences for the region”.
Tensions alongside the Blue Line have been deteriorating since Israel launched its offensive within the Gaza Strip following the brutal 7 October assault by Hamas and different Palestinian armed teams towards communities within the nation’s south.
Several folks have misplaced their lives, tens of hundreds are displaced, and homes and complete neighbourhoods destroyed.
‘Catastrophic, horrifying’ state of affairs in Gaza
Meanwhile, within the Gaza Strip, civilians proceed to bear the devastating impact of the hostilities and an unprecedented humanitarian crisis.
Mr. Wennesland instructed ambassadors he’d witnessed the deteriorating safety state of affairs on every of his visits and characterised the scope of dying and destruction as “catastrophic and horrifying”.
The use of explosive weapons by Israel in densely populated areas has destroyed complete neighborhoods and broken hospitals and different civilian infrastructure, as properly as UN premises, he mentioned, expressing his unequivocal condemnation the killing and maiming of civilians in Gaza, together with girls and youngsters.
Ongoing army operations and a “near total breakdown” of civil order have resulted in a number of reported incidents of theft of aid provides and shootings that posed important dangers to the inhabitants and humanitarian employees.
He underscored the pressing want for efficient mechanisms for humanitarian notification, secure situations for help operations, and ample entry to humanitarian wants.
Fiscal crisis
Mr. Wennesland voiced deep concern over the Palestinian Authority (PA)’s fiscal state of affairs amidst broader financial and safety issues throughout the occupied West Bank.
He referred to an announcement by the Israeli Finance Minister to proceed blocking the switch of clearance revenues to the PA and finish corresponding banking preparations between Israeli and Palestinian establishments by the top of the month.
These measures might severely worsen the monetary crisis and disrupt the complete Palestinian monetary system, the UN Special Coordinator warned.