New York: The top UN Middle East envoy has warned that the ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militants is “fragile” and the “cycles of violence” will only stop when an independent Palestinian state lives side-by-side with Israel.
Tor Wennesland called on Israeli and Palestinian leaders and the international community at an emergency meeting of the UN Security Council on the latest violence “to strengthen diplomatic efforts to return to meaningful negotiations towards a viable two-state solution”.
An Egyptian-mediated truce took effect on Monday (AEST), ending the worst round of violence since an 11-day war between Israel and Hamas last year. Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005 and has fought four wars with Hamas since the group won a 2006 election in Gaza and seized power from Fatah in 2007. The clashes have exacted a staggering toll on the impoverished territory’s 2.3 million Palestinian residents.
Israel began the offensive last Friday targeting Islamic Jihad fighters in Gaza, saying it faced “concrete threats” from the militant group. The nearly three days of violence killed 46 Palestinians, including 15 children and four women, and wounded 311, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry, while 70 Israelis were injured, according to the UN envoy.=
Wennesland condemned the Palestinians’ indiscriminate rocket fire aimed at populated centres in Israel. He recognised Israel’s security concerns but stressed that any use of force “must be proportionate” with “all feasible steps” taken to avoid civilian casualties.
Read the article by Edith Lederer in the Sydney Morning Herald.