Kicking off the session, Tor Wennesland, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, spoke via a video conference and updated the meeting with his latest report for the period June 15 to September 19, 2023.
The senior UN official reiterated to the Security Council the Secretary-General’s appeal for an end to the occupation and a resolution of the conflict as members echoed those calls and underlined a need to return to peace negotiations.
Wennesland pointed to the ongoing expansion of Israeli settlements, demolition of Palestinian homes, daily Israeli violence and continued inflammatory rhetoric by the Israeli cabinet.
He reported the latest settlement activity by Israel is advancing plans for 6,300 settler units in the occupied West Bank, and approximately 3,580 settler units in occupied eastern al-Quds (East Jerusalem), pointing to the Israeli administrative actions that likely expedited settlement expansion.
Israeli authorities, citing a lack of Israeli-issued building permits, which are almost impossible for Palestinians to obtain, demolished, seized or forced people to demolish 238 structures, including 32 donor-funded ones, displacing 183 people, including 46 women and 91 children.
Alarmingly, 59 schools, serving around 6,500 Palestinian students, are at risk of demolition to make way for Israeli settlers.
“In a continuing trend, many Palestinians, including children, left from their communities citing violence by settlers and shrinking grazing land,” he also warned.
Wennesland noted that during this period, Israeli forces killed at least 68 Palestinians, including 18 children.
Ten Israelis were also left dead by Palestinians in attacks and other incidents, the UN special coordinator added.
Experts argue that Palestinians have a legitimate right enshrined under international law to wage retaliatory operations and resistance in the face of the brutal military occupation and ethnic cleansing campaign.
Israeli forces’ 1,042 search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank have resulted in the arrest of 1,504 Palestinians, including 88 children, he added, highlighting that the regime currently holds 1,264 Palestinians in administrative detention - the highest number in over a decade.
Wennesland also provided details on the urgent funding needs of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) and the World Food Program (WFP).
In the ensuing discussion, council members stressed that the expanding Israeli settlements in the Occupied Palestinian Territory are a violation of international law and must cease.
Some representatives of states mostly allied to Israel also voiced concern about the ongoing violence and lack of any political progress, calling on all parties to exercise maximum restraint and take steps to de-escalate tensions.
Russia was by far the strongest critic of Israel.
Vasily Nebenzya of the Russian Federation recalled Israel's increasing steps to create irreversible facts on the ground and said that the ongoing explosive situation is a direct result of aggressive Israeli abuses in the occupied Palestinian territories.
The current Permanent Representative of Russia to the UN warned against the legalization of settlement outposts and the violation of the status quo of the holy sites of occupied al-Quds (Jerusalem).
Referring to Israel’s plan to increase the number of Israelis in the north of the occupied West Bank from 170,000 people to 1 million by 2050, with $200 million allocated for that, Nebenzya said it goes against the relevant Security Council decisions and is contrary to international law.
“The increase in violence against Palestinian minors and the demolition of educational institutions, including those built with donor funds, are of particular concern,” Nebenzia said, adding that the United States continues to promote Arab-Israeli normalization, circumventing the logic of the Arab Peace Initiative.
“Russia is committed to the creation of a Palestinian State within the 1967 borders with occupied al-Quds (East Jerusalem) as its capital,” he stated.
Several diplomats proposed ways to enhance efforts in resolving the conflict, with China’s envoy in particular calling for higher priority to be given to an international peace conference.
Beijing has been leading the calls for an international peace conference to end the suffering of Palestinians.
China has been much more diplomatically involved in Palestinian affairs since Chinese President Xi Jinping hosted his Palestinian counterpart Mahmoud Abbas for a four-day state visit to Beijing in June.
China's UN representative, Geng Shuang, also voiced support for President Abbas’ call for the Security Council to dispatch a mission to Palestine in due course.
He urged the cessation of all settlement activities, unilateral actions to change the status quo in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, and escalation of settler violence.
Geng also called on the "occupying power" to remove unreasonable restrictions on the movement of persons, goods and land use, and to lift the blockade on the Gaza Strip as soon as possible.
Brazil’s representative pointed out that the Security Council has become unresponsive to the Palestinians’ plight, stressing that the 15-member body must reflect on its role in paving the way for direct negotiations.
“Sitting on our hands while the situation unravels is short-sighted and dangerous,” Sergio Franca Danese warned.
The Brazilian ambassador also recalled that his country’s president highlighted the overdue establishment of a Palestinian state as an example of longstanding unresolved disputes lingering on while new threats emerge.
Brazil recognized the State of Palestine in 2010.
Pointing out that the Council has become unresponsive to the Palestinians’ plights, he stressed that "this must change".
The Brazilian diplomat called on Israel to curb settler violence and condemned any action aimed at altering the status quo of the holy sites.
Furthermore, Danese highlighted the importance of fostering the Palestinian economy, addressing governance challenges and respecting human rights, announcing that Brazil will enhance its contributions to projects in those areas.
Gabon’s representative also called for the lifting of the Gaza blockade in line with Security Council resolution 1860 (2009), noting that Palestinian territories face budgetary constraints because of restrictions on freedom of movement and trade.
Vanessa Frazier of Malta condemned “episodes of settler violence which have terrorized Palestinian communities”.
Japan’s representative was among the speakers who voiced support for UNRWA, underlining Tokyo's contribution of over $40 million to the program. He urged Member States to make sure that UNRWA maintains its core services for Palestinian refugees.
Ambassador Ishikane Kimishiro also noted that lack of political progress is jeopardizing peace and security in the region. He also echoed other members' demands for Israel to immediately cease settlement activities.
Ghana's Felix Akom Nyarku, referring to the increasing acts of settler violence, stressed that the destruction of infrastructure and properties in both the occupied Palestinian territories and in occupied al-Quds dangerously imperils the viability of peace.
He called on the international community to provide short-term investments to help the Palestinian Authority improve people’s access to education, health care, and employment as well as repair basic infrastructure and strengthen fiscal stability.
Andres Efren Montalvo Sosa of Ecuador highlighted that 2023 marks the most violent year in the region since 2005 (for Palestinians) and voiced concern about the increasing number of victims, expanding settlements, and daily violence.
Western states, including the United States, the United Kingdom and France also made similar calls on Israel to cease its settlement activity, but critics say these statements cannot be taken at face value.
Much of the machinery, including bulldozers, with which the settlements are expanded on Palestinian land, are bought from the West, in a similar manner to how annual U.S. military aid to Israel contributes to the killing of Palestinian women and children.
This comes as the Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs Commission released new data on Thursday showing that Israel has arrested more than 135,000 Palestinians since the outbreak of the al-Aqsa Intifada (Second Intifada) in 2000.
The commission said that these arrests affected all classes of Palestinian society, including children, women, and the elderly.
Nearly 21,000 Palestinian children have been arrested since 2000.
In addition, half of the Legislative Council members, a number of ministers, hundreds of academics, journalists, and workers in civil society organizations and international institutions have been detained.
Nobody has been spared by the regime.
The report also highlighted that more than 2,600 Palestinian girls and women were arrested by the regime's forces, including four women who gave birth in prison under harsh and difficult conditions.
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