Secretary-General \u2014 Gaza and Israel<\/u><\/p>\n
I have a\u00a0statement<\/a>\u00a0on the situation in Gaza and Israel.\u00a0 The Secretary-General appeals to all parties to immediately cease the fighting in Gaza and Israel.<\/p>\n The ongoing military escalation has caused great suffering and destruction.\u00a0 It has claimed scores of civilian lives, including, tragically, many children.\u00a0 The fighting has the potential to unleash an uncontainable security and humanitarian crisis and to further foster extremism, not only in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel, but in the region as a whole.<\/p>\n The parties must allow for mediation efforts to intensify with a view to ending the fighting immediately.\u00a0 The UN is actively involved in such efforts, which are also crucial for delivering much needed humanitarian aid to the affected people in Gaza.<\/p>\n The Secretary-General reiterates that only a sustainable political solution will lead to lasting peace.\u00a0 He reiterates his commitment, including through the Middle East Quartet, to supporting Palestinians and Israelis to resolve the conflict on the basis of the relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements.<\/p>\n **Middle East \u2014 Humanitarian<\/u><\/p>\n And, in addition to that statement, I have a humanitarian update from our humanitarian colleagues who report from Gaza, that given limited fuel reserves in the Gaza Strip, there are now daily rolling electrical power cuts of 8-12 hours a day.\u00a0 Another 230,000 people from Gaza City and Khan Younis have limited access to piped water due to increasing power cuts and damage to the network.<\/p>\n Over 12,000 people have reportedly sought shelter from the fighting, with many situated in schools run by our colleagues at UNWRA [Â鶹APP Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East].\u00a0 Twenty-nine UNRWA schools in Gaza have been opened as designated emergency shelters for displaced people.\u00a0 UNRWA and humanitarian partners are providing food, water and non-food items to those people.<\/p>\n As previously mentioned, funding for the humanitarian appeal for the Occupied Palestinian Territory is only 29\u00a0per\u00a0cent funded.<\/p>\n \/…<\/p>\n Questions and Answers<\/u><\/p>\n Speaking of energy, Nabil\u2026\u00a0 yeah, speaking\u2026\u00a0 no, I\u2019ll\u2026\u00a0 go ahead.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you, St\u00e9phane.\u00a0 So, I see that the Secretary\u2011General talks about Gaza and Israel in his statements, yesterday and today.\u00a0 Does he, or does this mean that he sees that the escalation is separate from what\u2019s happening in the West Bank but not also the West Bank, also cities and towns in Israel?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 No, I think that we\u2019re focused on Gaza because that\u2019s where we\u2019ve seen, obviously, the most dramatic increase in the conflict.\u00a0 We\u2019re also very much concerned about the situation in the West Bank.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen casualties, both from Israelis and Palestinians.<\/p>\n We are, despite, I would say, the security, as much as the security situation allows, we are providing assistance as required\u2026\u00a0 as required to Palestinian families in the West Bank, but it\u2019s\u2026\u00a0 the continued fighting is, hampers our operation and is, obviously, of concern.<\/p>\n And we\u2019re, obviously, also very much concerned about the violence we\u2019ve seen between different communities in Israel, and we would appeal for calm on that front.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 And the follow\u2011up also, the Israeli Prime Minister [inaudible] to the use of administrative detention in Lod city.\u00a0 Do you have a position on this measure, which is usually\u2026\u00a0 it means detention without trial.\u00a0 What\u2019s your position on that?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Look, I, there is a, there is, obviously, a tense security situation.\u00a0 We, as a matter, I\u2019m not going to get into the weeds of the, of what is going on directly in Israel, but obviously, we, as a matter of principle, stand for most fairness and justice, and people, if they\u2019re detained that they need to face, face whatever charges.<\/p>\n Ms. Saloomey, please.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thanks, St\u00e9phane.\u00a0 I\u2019m struck by the fact that it was just one week ago that the Security Council held this meeting on multilateralism and all members of the Council came out and expressed their support for it, and yet we\u2019ve seen in the last week Council members blocking action that other Council members support, whether it\u2019s Myanmar, Palestine or what have you.<\/p>\n Is the Secretary\u2011General worried that the inconsistencies of what these permanent members of the Council say and do undermines the Â鶹APP to the core? \u00a0What\u2019s the point of multilateralism if one country can block an issue of concern for all others?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Look, I mean, I think the Secretary\u2011General would be the first one to tell you \u2014 and he has said it \u2014 that he is concerned about the state of multilateralism as we\u2019ve seen it during the pandemic and as we\u2019ve seen it in other aspects.\u00a0 We would like to see Member States put to action the ideals that we all have to live up to within this Organization.<\/p>\n The more unified the Security Council is, the stronger its voice and the stronger its impact.<\/p>\n Let\u2019s go to Alan, then we\u2019ll go to the screen for a bit, and then we\u2019ll come back in the room.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 A source in Turkey Foreign Ministry told RIA Novosti recently that members of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation advocate for establishing so\u2011called mechanism of protection for Palestinians, which would imply sending an international military force to the region.\u00a0 Your position on such statements and initiatives?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to comment on whatever is leaked from an organization that I don\u2019t speak for.\u00a0 Our aim right now is for a de\u2011escalation, an immediate cessation of hostilities.\u00a0 We need to get humanitarian aid to those who need it, and we need to get a political process back on track.<\/p>\n \/…<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 First question, Hamas and Palestinian Islamic jihad leaders have said and expressed their gratitude to Iran for supplying much of the weaponry, funds and other support.\u00a0 And the senior official of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of Iran was quoted just very recently as saying: \u00a0\u201cWe have a religious duty to act against Israel and annihilate it.\u201d \u00a0So, we have the Palestinian groups in Gaza using weaponry from Iran and a senior Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps official saying that Iran\u2019s policy is essentially to annihilate Israel.<\/p>\n I\u2019d like you to comment on behalf of the Secretary\u2011General on that, and then I have another question.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Well, I mean, on the statements about annihilation, we stand clearly in condemnation of any sorts of statements to that effect, and we have done so in the past, and we\u2019ll continue to do so.<\/p>\n I have no particular information on weapons, where they come from.\u00a0 What is clear for us is that every country, whether it is in the region and beyond, should use its influence on the parties to bring about peace, to bring about a cessation of hostilities, to bring about a de\u2011escalation and to help calm the situation.<\/p>\n \/…<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you, St\u00e9phane.\u00a0 I was listening to the statement issued by the Secretary\u2011General, and I found it, first, inaccurate and unbalanced.\u00a0 And let me just quote what the Israeli army said.\u00a0 It\u2019s a statement from the Israeli army.\u00a0 It said that 160 fighting jets have conducted, had fired 450 missile, 450 missiles against 150 targets in 40 minutes, and not one word mentioned about the disproportionate use of force.\u00a0 Why is that? \u00a0Why the word \u201cdisproportionate use of force\u201d these reports was missing from the statement? \u00a0The statement exactly equalize between both sides, exactly, word for word, drafted statement to equalise between both parties.\u00a0 Why is that? \u00a0And I have a second question.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 We have been very clear on a number of points.\u00a0 One is for Israel to use restraint and to calibrate the use of force in its security operations.\u00a0 We have also condemned the use of rockets firing indiscriminately into civilian areas by militant groups, whether Hamas or others.<\/p>\n What we want to see is an end to the civilian suffering.\u00a0 We want to see an end to the destruction that we are seeing now, and that is the aim of what we say publicly, and it is the aim of our diplomatic activity.<\/p>\n Your second question.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Just as a follow\u2011up to what you just said, the word \u201ccondemned\u201d was used only once against Palestinians, but when a residential tower was destroyed to the ground, it was not used, the word \u201ccondemned\u201d.<\/p>\n But my second question, as of today, 119 Palestinian killed, including 31\u00a0children, 31 children \u2014 I repeat that, 31 children \u2014 and 19 women.\u00a0 Do these victims\u2026\u00a0 the 31 children and 19 women, were the\u2026\u00a0 a statement that condemned \u2014 they used the word \u201ccondemn\u201d \u2014 of those who use excessive force to kill these children and women?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 We have consistently spoken out and condemned the death of all civilians.<\/p>\n Okay.\u00a0 Toby.<\/p>\n Correspondent<\/u>:\u00a0 It\u2019s frustrating.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Toby.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thanks.\u00a0 Thanks, Steph.\u00a0 First question is, what does the Secretary\u2011General expect from the Security Council meeting on the situation in Israel and Palestine that\u2019s happening this weekend? \u00a0It\u2019s a Sunday meeting.\u00a0 I think the last time we had a Sunday meeting was probably North Korea stuff in 2017, but what does he expect? \u00a0And is anyone from the Secretariat briefing on Sunday?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Yes, there will be a Secretariat briefer.\u00a0 We\u2019re working out those details as we speak.<\/p>\n What we would like to see is a, like I\u2019ve said before, is a strong, unified voice for de\u2011escalation, for a cessation of hostilities and a push to get the parties back on track to find a political solution to this conflict that has been going on and on and on.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Sorry, Steph.\u00a0 I\u2026\u00a0 your first statement I didn\u2019t hear.\u00a0 Is\u2026\u00a0 so, the details are being worked out on who the briefer is?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 That\u2019s correct.\u00a0 We should have some more information by the end of the day.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 And then just one other question on\u2026\u00a0 does Mr. [Tor] Wennesland use these moment\u2026\u00a0 does he think these are moments are opportunities for renewed action and diplomacy on his part, or is he waiting for this situation to die down before he really approaches the political side of this? \u00a0Thank you.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Well, I would hate to say that moments when we\u2019re seeing scores of children and civilians die as an opportunity.\u00a0 But, that being said, he has been actively involved in contacts with all the relevant parties, whether it\u2019s on the ground or his Quartet colleagues, and so the diplomacy is very much at work.<\/p>\n Okay.\u00a0 We\u2019ll go to Maggie, and then we\u2019ll go back to Nabil.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Hi, Steph.\u00a0 Could you tell us specifically what the Secretary\u2011General\u2019s been doing to get the Quartet meeting convened and who he\u2019s spoken to on the phone? \u00a0Has he called Prime Minister Netanyahu or Mahmoud Abbas? \u00a0Who\u2019s he speaking to specifically? \u00a0Thanks.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 No\u2026\u00a0 so, go ahead.\u00a0 I know before, I mean, I spoke to him just before he got on his plane to Moscow.\u00a0 He\u2019s been having, been in constant contact with Mr., with his Special Coordinator, Mr. Wennesland, who is himself in touch with all the relevant parties.\u00a0 And the Secretary\u2011General has had other contacts, but I\u2019m not aware of any direct phone calls he\u2019s had with either the Prime Minister of Israel or the President of the Palestinian Authority.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Steph, is there a timeline\u2026<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Obviously, the issue\u2026<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 \u2026for how soon you\u2019d get the Quartet together?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 No, sorry.\u00a0 No, there is no timeline that I\u2019m able to share.\u00a0 And, obviously, he did\u2026\u00a0 the situation in Israel and the Occupied Palestine Territory was on the agenda of both his conversations with Foreign Minister Lavrov, as well as President Putin.<\/p>\n Okay.\u00a0 Nabil and then Alan.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 I have three questions.\u00a0 So, why the Secretary\u2011General is not planning to brief the Security Council on Sunday?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I didn\u2019t say he wasn\u2019t.\u00a0 I just said we\u2019ll, we\u2019re working out the logistics of who will brief on Sunday.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 So, it is possible that he will be the briefer.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Tons of things are possible.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 And also, the safety and security of journalists and media crews in Gaza and the West Bank, because our office, among many others, was destroyed in Gaza, my TV station, and in the West Bank, also, the journalists are subject to attacks and harassments from the Israeli forces.\u00a0 What\u2019s your message on this?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Journalists, especially in zones of conflict, do critical work.\u00a0 They need to be able to do their work free of harassment of any kind, and in no way should they ever be targeted.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 I have a little follow\u2011up on the question of Quartet meeting.\u00a0 Today, the German Foreign Minister official said that it\u2019s expected to be held today, but he didn\u2019t mention on what level.\u00a0 Do you have anything on this?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 No, I\u2019m not aware of a Quartet meeting being held today.\u00a0 I checked following your, when you contacted me this morning, with our colleagues in Jerusalem.\u00a0 They were not aware of an official Quartet meeting.\u00a0 Obviously, the Quartet envoys are, I mean, let me put it this way.\u00a0 We are, our Quartet representative, Mr. Wennesland, is speaking to his colleagues, but I\u2019m not aware of an official Quartet meeting at any level.<\/p>\n Okay.\u00a0 Thank you, all.\u00a0 See you Monday.\u00a0 Enjoy the\u2026<\/p>\n Correspondent<\/u>:\u00a0 St\u00e9phane, I put my name for second question.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 One second, Abdelhamid.\u00a0 I\u2019ll get to you.\u00a0 Let me answer Nabil, and then I\u2019ll get to you.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Is Mr.\u00a0 Wennesland planning to visit Gaza?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I have no\u2026\u00a0 at this very moment, I doubt it, given that the conflict is still ongoing, but I know he would, if he needs to, he would do so at his earliest possible convenience.<\/p>\n Yes, Abdelhamid.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Yes.\u00a0 Two brief questions.\u00a0 First, why you say the President of Palestinian Authority? \u00a0I mean, officially the UN considers Abbas the President of the State of Palestine, and when Riyad Mansour speaks in the Security Council, he has a sign says \u201cState of Palestine\u201d. So, you say Palestinian\u2026<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 That was a mis\u2026\u00a0 that was misspeaking on\u2026\u00a0 that was just me speaking off the cuff.\u00a0 I should not be\u2026<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 All right.\u00a0 No problem.<\/p>\n Question<\/u>:\u00a0 In 1950, Israel passed a law denying the Palestinian who owned property in the so\u2011called\u2026\u00a0 in this\u2026\u00a0 in Israel to seek regaining their property.<\/p>\n In 1970, Israel passed another law allowing Jews who have previous\u2026\u00a0 before 1948 any property in now what is West Bank to seek to try to get back their property.\u00a0 Isn\u2019t that a flagrant case of apartheid?<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 There are a lot of issues that will need to be dealt with politically between the parties so we can have two States, Israel and Palestine, living in peace, side by side.\u00a0 The issue of property will clearly be one of those issues.<\/p>\n Okay.<\/p>\n Correspondent<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you.<\/p>\n Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you, all.\u00a0 We will keep you updated as to what happens on Sunday, but my understanding is that the meeting, anyway, will be all virtual, so we have no plans to physically be here.\u00a0 But we\u2019ll keep you posted on our participation in that meeting.<\/p>\n For information media. Not an official record.<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Secretary-General \u2014 Gaza and Israel I have a\u00a0statement\u00a0on the situation in Gaza and Israel.\u00a0 The Secretary-General appeals to all parties to immediately cease the fighting in Gaza and Israel. The ongoing military escalation has caused great suffering and destruction.\u00a0 It has claimed scores of civilian lives, including, tragically, many children.\u00a0 The fighting has the potential […]<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":172,"featured_media":0,"parent":0,"template":"template-page.php","meta":{"footnotes":""},"country":[897,1593],"document-category":[2573],"document-source":[2329,5352,1362,6169,1877],"committee-meeting":[],"document-subject":[1769,1945,1829,2033,2005,1741,5200,1857,2185,1905,1638,2385,2117,6245,1841],"entity":[1729],"document-language":[],"class_list":["post-251773","document","type-document","status-publish","hentry","country-israel","country-palestine-state-of","document-category-highlights-of-the-noon-briefing","document-source-quartet","document-source-secretary-general","document-source-security-council","document-source-united-nations-department-of-global-communications","document-source-united-nations-special-coordinator-for-the-middle-east-peace-process-unsco","document-subject-armed-conflict","document-subject-assistance","document-subject-casualties","document-subject-children","document-subject-gaza-strip","document-subject-human-rights-and-international-humanitarian-law","document-subject-humanitarian-relief","document-subject-incidents","document-subject-legal-issues","document-subject-peace-proposals-and-efforts","document-subject-quartet","document-subject-security-issues","document-subject-terrorism","document-subject-violence","document-subject-women","entity-united-nations-system"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/251773","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/document"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/172"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document\/251773\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=251773"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"country","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/country?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"document-category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-category?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"document-source","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-source?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"committee-meeting","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/committee-meeting?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"document-subject","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-subject?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"entity","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/entity?post=251773"},{"taxonomy":"document-language","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.un.org\/unispal\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/document-language?post=251773"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}