UN Mideast envoy pledges to continue efforts to resuscitate dialogue among stakeholders

Source: Xinhua| 2020-07-22 06:42:31|Editor: huaxia

Video: UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov says on July 21, 2020 that the UN will continue its efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders in the Middle East with no preconditions. (Xinhua)

The special coordinator reiterated the UN chief's call to members of the Middle East Quartet, Arab countries, and the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to re-engage urgently.

UNITED NATIONS, July 21 (Xinhua) -- UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said on Tuesday that the United Nations will continue its efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders in the Middle East with no preconditions.

"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," Mladenov told the Security Council quarterly open debate on "The Situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian Question" in open videoconference (VTC) format.

"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," he said.

The special coordinator reiterated the UN chief's call to members of the Middle East Quartet, Arab countries, and the Israeli and Palestinian leaderships to re-engage urgently.

"We need to restart diplomacy," he said, adding that the COVID-19 pandemic and its ensuing economic crisis, which has sent Israeli unemployment soaring past 20 percent, are a chance to move forward along the path to a negotiated two-state solution in line with UN resolutions, bilateral agreements and international law.

"The ferocity of the COVID-19 virus and its devastating human and economic toll demand extraordinary measures (that) rise above politics-as-usual," he said. "Immediate efforts to curb the virus and to mitigate its impact must be prioritized. Israeli and Palestinian leaders have a duty to protect the lives and livelihoods of their populations."

On the annexation plans, 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.

On May 28, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he was committed to annexing parts of the West Bank in July once a joint Israeli-U.S. team completes mapping the exact territory based on the conceptual map released by U.S. President Donald Trump's administration. However, the July 2020 annexation plan was later pushed back.

On the profound impact of COVID-19, the envoy said that 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.

The World Health Organization on Monday put the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Israel at 49,481, with 403 fatalities. In the West Bank and Gaza, it reported 10,052 cases and 65 deaths.

In response, Mladenov noted, the United Nations has engaged with all sides to ensure the continued and unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance. 

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