Israel: UN Official Calls for "Immediate Actions on the Ground" to Save Peace Process

On Tuesday, the United Nations' Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Haile Menkerios declared that political efforts for a negotiated two-State solution have reached “a deep and worrying impasse”.

Menkerios said the absence of Israeli-Palestinian negotiations and Israel’s refusal to freeze settlements pose a key challenge which call for “immediate actions on the ground” to prevent Middle East peace efforts from unravelling. Referring to Palestinian Authority leader Mahmoud Abbas's statement that he would not take part in the forthcoming elections, the senior UN official warned, "This is a loud and clear wake-up call. If we cannot move decisively forward to a final status agreement, we risk sliding backwards, with both the Palestinian Authority and the two-State solution itself imperilled."

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Menkerios criticized Israel for restraining rather than freezing settlement activity, pointing to the approval of 900 more housing units to expand Gilo settlement in East Jerusalem. He added that, in the past month, Israel demolished 17 houses and displaced 99 Palestinians, more than half of them children. More than 70 Palestinians were also injured and more than 300 arrested during Israeli raids in the West Bank, he said.

Menkerios also criticized Israel for its continuing blockade in Gaza, noting its counter-productive effects. He stated that the UN has yet to receive a satisfactory response from Israel to a six-month old proposal to complete $77 million of stalled housing, school, and health projects.