New York – The United Nations Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, called on Thursday for a ceasefire agreement in the Gaza Strip now, including the release of prisoners.
Wennesland warned that the Gaza Strip would need decades to recover from the effects of the war, while the West Bank was on the verge of a volcano due to settler violence.
This came in his statement during the monthly session held by the UN Security Council, yesterday, Thursday, regarding the situation in the Middle East, especially the Palestinian issue.
“The ceasefire in the Gaza Strip must be stopped now, and the hostages (Israeli prisoners in Gaza) must be released,” Wennesland said.
He stressed that reaching an agreement in this regard between Israel and the factions movement has become “inevitable for the sake of regional peace and security.”
He praised the efforts of Qatar, Egypt and the United States “to reach an agreement to cease fire in Gaza and release the hostages.”
The UN official condemned the violations committed by Israel during its current war on Gaza.
In this regard, he pointed out that the Israeli army had “launched air strikes on schools and mosques that house displaced persons in Gaza.”
Wennesland warned that the war in Gaza is causing huge losses in lives.
He pointed out that “more than 200,000 Palestinians in Gaza were affected by the evacuation orders issued by Israel during the recent period.”
Wennesland described the extent of the destruction in Gaza as a result of the war as “enormous.”
He considered that the recovery of the sector “will take years and perhaps decades.”
The UN official referred to the escalation of settler attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank, coinciding with the war on Gaza.
He considered that the West Bank “is now standing on the edge of a volcano due to violence.”
“The settlers’ practices in the village of Jit, in the Nablus Governorate (northern West Bank), are evidence of the violent consequences of expanding settlements,” Wennesland said.
On August 15, Israeli settlers killed a Palestinian, seriously injured another, and set fire to four homes and six cars owned by Palestinians during their raid on the village of Jit, in an attack that was met with widespread international condemnation and American, European, and international calls to hold the perpetrators of the attack accountable.
In this regard, Wennesland stressed the “need to strengthen the Palestinian government to be able to govern the Gaza Strip and the West Bank effectively.”
He said: “The Palestinian security forces in the West Bank must be supported to carry out their responsibilities (…) and work must be done to enhance the Palestinian Authority’s ability to meet the needs of the people.”
He considered that the only way out of the current state of despair is “a political horizon that ends the occupation and achieves the two-state solution” (a Palestinian state and an Israeli state living side by side).
In conjunction with its devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, the Israeli army expanded its operations in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, while settlers escalated their attacks on Palestinians there, leaving at least 640 dead and about 5,400 wounded, according to official Palestinian data.
Anatolia
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2024-08-24 03:37:19
