The security situation in the West Bank has significantly deteriorated, highlighted by the most intensive Israeli operation in nearly 20 years, further jeopardizing the Israel-Palestine peace process, a senior United Nations official told the Security Council today.
Khaled Khiari, Assistant Secretary-General for Middle East, Asia and the Pacific in the Departments of Political and Peacebuilding Affairs and Peace Operations, said that from 27 June through 24 July in the occupied West Bank, 25 Palestinians, including 5 children, were killed, and 249 Palestinians were injured by Israeli security forces. According to Israel, 2 Israeli security forces personnel were killed while another 39 Israelis were injured by Palestinians.
“This deterioration is taking place alongside ongoing unilateral steps that undermine a two-State solution, the absence of a peace process and the continuing economic challenges facing Palestinians and the Palestinian Authority,” he stressed.
On 3 and 4 July in the Jenin refugee camp in the occupied West Bank, Israeli security forces carried out an operation marked by multiple drone strikes and over 1,000 ground troops. Twelve Palestinians, including four children, were killed and over 140 injured — the most in a single operation in the West Bank since the United Nations began tracking casualties in 2005. Palestinian Islamic Jihad al‑Quds Brigades claimed 8 of the 12 fatalities as members, including children.
Israeli settler violence continues, albeit not at the scale witnessed in June, he pointed out, reminding Israel of its responsibility to abide by international humanitarian law when carrying out security measures. The funding gap faced by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) is of grave concern, he went on to say, urging the international community to contribute the $200 million the Agency urgently needs to maintain services from September onwards.
When the floor opened for discussion, the Permanent Observer for the State of Palestine, said that there are more than 700,000 Israeli settlers in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem. “So, let us start by calling things by their name,” he urged, stating that “the Israeli occupation is a settler-colonial occupation”, and that the only way the international community can end it is to address its settler-colonial nature.
“We need an action plan, with the necessary resources and the will to implement it,” he stressed. The International Criminal Court investigations must start yielding results by providing justice for victims and deterring perpetrators. The International Court of Justice advisory opinion will give the United Nations and all States guidance on their legal obligations.
Israel’s representative said that Palestine poisons the minds of children and fosters hate-filled youth. Among the recent victims of Palestinian violence was a pregnant Israeli woman who lost her baby when she was run over by a Hamas truck. In Jenin refugee camp, Israel conducted two days of counter-terrorism operations with surgical precision targeting terrorists and avoiding civilian casualties.
In total, 12 Palestinian terrorists were killed, and Israeli forces found tunnels and explosive devices and weapons stored there, he said. Yet, the Secretary-General did not commend Israel for uprooting terrorists, but instead repeated Palestinian lies. Noting the growing tensions at the border with Lebanon, he urged the Council to hold an emergency meeting before it’s too late.
The representative of the United States urged all parties to take proactive measures to counter all forms of violence and to ensure that justice and accountability are pursued with equal rigour in all cases. Israel faces real security challenges, he said, expressing support for the country’s legitimate right to defend its people — including against the threats posed by Hamas.
Trust between the parties is at rock-bottom, France’s delegate pointed out, condemning all attacks targeting civilians — both Israeli and Palestinian. While condemning terrorist acts against Israel and reiterating unwavering commitment to that country’s security, he also condemned the continued Israeli colonization of the Territory. “That is why France will never recognize the illegal annexation of territories, nor the legalization of illegal settlements,” he added.......
https://press.un.org/en/2023/sc15368.doc.htm
