MaximsNewsNetwork: 27 July 2009 - UNTV: United Nations Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco tells the Security Council that illegal settlement activity continues across the West Bank including East Jerusalem, and says indications of new settlement construction and house demolitions are of particular concern.
The illegal building of new homes and communities continues to occur across the West Bank and East Jerusalem, threatening fragile hopes of a two-state solution to the long-running conflict, top United Nations officials warned today (27 July), urging both Israel and the Palestinians to meet their obligations under the Road Map for peace in the Middle East.
Assistant-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, Oscar Fernandez-Taranco told delegates at an open Security Council debate on the Middle East that the situation in East Jerusalem is of particular concern, especially indications of new settlement construction and house demolitions.
Fernandez-Taranco also said that the fiscal situation of the Palestinian Authority remained dire, and asked member states to fulfill their pledges.
And the senior UN official reminded the Council that the Secretary-General has described the blocking of reconstruction materials and supplies as completely unacceptable.
Over the past month, only 70 per cent of the fuel needed to operate Gazas only power plant at full capacity was shipped into the area and as a result power cuts continue throughout the Gaza Strip, affecting most householders ability to refrigerate foods, as well as the provision of essential services like water and sanitation, health care and medicine storage, and waste disposal. Some ten per cent of Gazans are without any electricity at all, according to Fernandez-Taranco.
United States Ambassador Alejandro Wolff told Council members that for decades the various United States administrations had had a consistent position on the subject of settlement expansion, to uphold commitments it has made, including to stop settlements and to dismantle outposts.
Ambassador Philip Parham from the United Kingdom stressed that firm commitments were also needed from the Palestinians. He called for all rocket attacks to stop, for the immediate release of Corporal Gilad Shalit, and for an end to all acts of violence.
Riyad Mansour, the Permanent Observer of Palestine told the Council that Israel continued with the construction of settlements and the wall, as well as other actions in flagrant defiance of international law and the international communitys demands for cessation of all settlements activities.
Israels Ambassador, Gabriela Shalev said that Israel and Palestine now stood at a critical juncture between the way of terrorism and hatred, which she characterized as the ways of Hamas, Hizbollah, and also Iran, and that of peace, prosperity and mutual respect, which she said Israel has made a clear choice to pursue.
Last week (22 July) Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon urged Israel to freeze its settlement activity in the West Bank and the Palestinian Authority to intensify its efforts on the ground as he stressed the need for an agenda of transformative change in the Middle East peace process.
In a message to the opening of the United Nations International Meeting on the Question of Palestine, held in Geneva, Ban said that intensive diplomatic efforts were under way to create the conditions for the prompt resumption and early conclusion of negotiations to secure a two-State solution, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace.
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