Palestinian UN Envoy: Israeli attacks have destroyed hope for peace

In a letter to the Italian President, the Palestinian Envoy to the United Nations (non-voting), Riyad Mansour, stated that Israel’s “state terrorism” in Gaza has wiped away the hope for peace that was established last week in the one-day Annapolis summit.

Riyad Mansour

He wrote, "while the rhetoric of the occupying Power has taken on a deceivingly more positive tone, the actual situation on the ground has further deteriorated as a result of its unlawful policies and practices."  Mansour is referring to the ongoing Israeli airstrikes in Gaza, and invasions in the West Bank, that have resulted in sixteen Palestinians killed since last Tuesday’s one-day ‘peace meeting’.

 

While no Israelis have been killed this year by Palestinians, Israeli forces have killed over 700 Palestinians, many of them civilians.  Human rights groups estimate that 80% of those killed are civilians.

 

Mansour mentioned a number of Israeli violations of international law, including the attacks on civilians, the cut-off of the Gaza Strip and collective punishment of its civilian population, the illegal colonization activities in the West Bank – both through construction of settlements and through construction of the Annexation Wall.  He specifically pointed to the Israeli government decision to further expand the Har Homa settlement near Bethlehem.

 

"Clearly, the continuation of such illegal measures by the occupying Power will only cause the further deterioration of the prevailing grave humanitarian situation, with both short and long-term negative consequences for the civilian population, for the stability of the area, and for the prospects for peace," he added.  "The international community, including the Security Council, bear clear responsibilities in this regard.”

 

Mansour said that holding ‘peace meetings’ and speaking about peace is disingenuous when such rhetoric is accompanied by ongoing human rights violations on the ground.

 

He said the "recent gained momentum in peace efforts and talks on the Palestinian-Israeli track does not absolve the occupying Power from the obligation to respect international law, and it does not offer Israel a free human rights violation pass. Nor does it preclude the moral and legal obligations of the international community to continue monitoring the human rights situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem."

 

"Such compliance and respect, in tandem with progress made in resumed direct bilateral negotiations, are what will truly bring about a change in the situation on the ground and in the lives of the people and what will truly advance the peace process.”

 

He urged that the international community hold Israel responsible for its systematic human rights violations and what he termed ‘state terrorism’ against the Palestinian people.