UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said the unfolding dynamics of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict have “further exposed the unsustainability of the occupation and the need to update agreements that define the relationship between the two sides in the interest of peace.”
Briefing a virtual meeting of the Security Council today (21 Jul), Mladenov said, in recent weeks, the region and the broader international community have continued to express their firm rejection of annexation. He reiterated the Secretary-General’s call on the Israeli Government to abandon plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
Mladenov also added that the Secretary-General and the UN “will continue efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders, with no preconditions, and in the interest of peace and a negotiated resolution to the conflict.” He said, “For these efforts to stand a chance of success, there must be political will from all parties. Otherwise, the path to a negotiated solution risks quickly becoming unnavigable, moving instead towards a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict.”
Regrettably, the Special Coordinator said, the situation on the ground is rapidly being impacted by the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel. The challenges of confronting the rapid increase in cases in the West Bank and boosting prevention efforts in Gaza has been significantly compounded by the ending of coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Mladenov told Council members.
In response, he noted, the United Nations has engaged with all sides to ensure the continued and unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance. The Special Coordinator warned that the ferocity of the virus and its devastating human and economic toll demand extraordinary measures – measures that must rise above politics-as-usual. He reiterated the Secretary-General’s call to the members of the Middle East Quartet, the Arab countries, the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to urgently re-engage.
