19 MAY 2021<\/p>\n
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today\u2019s noon briefing by St\u00e9phane Dujarric, Spokesman for the Secretary-General.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Occupied Palestinian Territory<\/u><\/p>\n
Turning to the situation in Israel and Gaza, in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u00a0 In a flash appeal, the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, said today that it urgently seeks $38\u00a0million to respond to the immediate needs and to carry out essential emergency interventions in Gaza.\u00a0 UNRWA said that activities cover an initial 30-day emergency response, from the start of the escalation on 10\u00a0May, and will support up to 50,000\u00a0individuals seeking safety in 50\u00a0designated emergency shelters.<\/p>\n
Regarding funding, Mark Lowcock, the Emergency Relief Coordinator, said that the UN\u2019s Humanitarian Coordinator on the ground, Lynn Hastings, hopes to release $14\u00a0million from the Humanitarian Fund for the Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u00a0 The Emergency Relief Coordinator called upon donors to accelerate their contributions to the Fund without delay.<\/p>\n
He added that the crossings with Gaza need to be opened for the entrance of essential and humanitarian supplies, including fuel and basic services and supplies to help curb the spread of COVID-19 virus.<\/p>\n
And the Secretary-General, from his part, said that we are seeing immense human suffering and extensive damage to homes and vital infrastructure in Gaza.\u00a0 He called on the international community to ensure adequate funding for our humanitarian operations there.<\/p>\n
And as a reminder, the Secretary-General will address the General Assembly tomorrow in a special session on the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.\u00a0 We will share his remarks with you under embargo as soon as we get them.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Questions and Answers<\/u><\/p>\n
Ms.\u00a0Lederer?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you very much, Steph. \u00a0Does the Secretary-General have any comment on [United States] President [Joseph] Biden\u2019s call to [Israeli] Prime Minister [Benjamin] Netanyahu to significantly de-escalate the situation in Gaza and Netanyahu\u2019s recent comment saying that he\u2019s determined to press ahead?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to comment on those comments.\u00a0 What I will say is what our position is, is that we want to see a stop to the fighting as soon as possible.\u00a0 We want to see a stop of the fighting immediately.<\/p>\n
There needs to be a halt to the aerial attacks, to the rockets, to the artillery strikes going from one side to the other.\u00a0 Civilians need to be able to live in peace.\u00a0 We need to get that humanitarian aid into Gaza.<\/p>\n
For our part, our Special Coordinator, Tor Wennesland, is actively engaged with all sides on the ground in order to work towards that end.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you.\u00a0 Couple of questions on the situation in the Middle East.\u00a0 France has come out with a draft Security Council resolution.\u00a0 How important does the Secretary-General believe it is that the Security Council now speaks with one voice?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Very.\u00a0 We think a unified and strong voice from the Security Council actually carries weight, not only in this situation but in other situations of conflict.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 What we\u2019re seeing on the ground, does the Secretary-General believe these are war crimes?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Our focus right now is on seeing an immediate cessation of hostilities.\u00a0 I think that will be for all\u2026 for others and for different parts of the UN to look at afterwards.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 And what\u2019s the Secretary-General himself been doing?\u00a0 You\u2019ve talked about what Mr.\u00a0Wennesland is doing.\u00a0 I remember covering in 2009, when there was a similar conflict, Ban Ki-moon got on a plane, and he went to Tel Aviv, and he raised issues with the Israeli Government at the time.\u00a0 Does the Secretary-General feel he should, perhaps, follow the example of his predecessor?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Each Secretary-General has his own methods of engaging in these types of events, and we will let historians compare and contrast 2009 to 2014 to 2021.\u00a0 The Secretary-General has been fully engaged and following it very closely.\u00a0 He\u2019s raised this issue with\u2026 in contacts with the Russians, with the Americans, with the King of Jordan, with the Palestinians, with the Israelis soon.\u00a0 But he has really empowered his man on the ground, Tor Wennesland, to engage in very, very active diplomacy in order to bring about an immediate cessation of hostilities.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Sorry.\u00a0 Very quick follow-up because you said with the Israelis soon.<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Yes.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Are you saying that the Secretary-General in all of this period of bombardment by Israel and rockets from Gaza has not spoken to the Israeli Prime Minister?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 There has been no direct contact with the Secretary-General and Mr.\u00a0Netanyahu\u2026<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Why not?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Because the\u2026 it is\u2026 we are doing what we feel would be the most efficient in order to get to where we are, and that is the diplomacy on the ground, the contacts that are being had on the ground.<\/p>\n
Betul?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 So, just a follow-up on James\u2019 question, we were told that the US does not support the French initiative to circulate this draft resolution.\u00a0 What is your reaction?\u00a0 There is, obviously, no unity in the Security Council\u2026 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 No, the fact that there is no unity is a fact.\u00a0 The fact that we would like to see unity is our position.\u00a0 The Council is the master of its domain.\u00a0 The Council members will debate, and they will act accordingly.\u00a0 I mean, I\u2026 we can\u2019t tell them what to do.\u00a0 We can\u2026 we\u2019ve expressed what we would like to see but\u2026<\/p>\n
C\u00e9lhia?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 To follow-up on James\u2019 and Betul\u2019s questions, do you really think that the Secretary-General is doing enough to stop that war?\u00a0 Because Kofi Annan himself went in 1998 to Iraq and stopped the war that was coming.\u00a0 So, is he doing enough?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Listen, I\u2019m not going to compare the situation in ’98 in Iraq to this current situation.\u00a0 The Secretary-General has a very specific approach.\u00a0 It is not one that involves very public diplomacy.\u00a0 That\u2019s his approach.\u00a0 I can tell you that he is in daily multiple-times contact with Tor Wennesland, who is engaged in very, very active and deep contacts on all sides trying to get to where we want to be.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you, St\u00e9phane.\u00a0 So, if the efforts on the ground\u2026 as you mentioned, that\u2019s the strategy right now is to work from the ground and try to approach the Government of Israel.\u00a0 If that doesn\u2019t work, do you have a time frame in terms of maybe when the Secretary-General maybe have a call or decides\u2026<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Look, things are being decided on a day-to-day basis, what is the best tactic in the Secretary-General\u2019s mind to try to bring an end\u2026 trying to bring an end to this conflict.\u00a0 His position, publicly, is very clear and has been well documented.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Just a follow-up.\u00a0 A ceasefire, you\u2026 the efforts are advancing?\u00a0 What is the new approach?\u00a0 We know that France\u2019s President, President [Emmanuel] Macron, said he had been talking to the parts\u2026 the leaders of Palestine, as well as Israel.\u00a0 The President of the United States, as Edith mentioned, had a call.\u00a0 Where that stands, what the countries are\u2026 is anything that the Secretary is coordinating?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Well, I mean, there are, obviously, discussions going on between Governments, as well.\u00a0 I mean, we know there are other parties involved in trying to get\u2026 to bring peace and to see a halt to the fighting.\u00a0 I think everybody is working in the same direction.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Hi.\u00a0 Thanks, Steph.\u00a0 I have two questions today, one on Palestine and the other on Myanmar.\u00a0 On Israel-Palestine, we saw normalizations of diplomatic relationship with the past year between Israel and several other countries in the region, and now we\u2019re seeing some of the worst violence between Palestinians and Israelis that we\u2019ve seen in years.\u00a0 Does the Secretary-General feel that any of these normalizations were damaging to the dynamics in the region?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I\u2019m not\u2026 that\u2019s an analysis best left to you, Toby.\u00a0 I\u2019m not equipped to do that kind of spot analysis, if you\u2019ll apol\u2026 if you\u2019ll excuse me.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Steph, quick follow-up, please, has Tor Wennesland called Prime Minister Netanyahu or anyone from the UN\u2026 maybe Ms.\u00a0[Rosemary] DiCarlo?\u00a0 I mean, has anyone spoken directly with the Prime Minister?\u00a0 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Mr.\u00a0Wennesland has been in touch with Israeli decision makers at various key and critical levels.<\/p>\n
Correspondent<\/u>:\u00a0 Nobody has spoken directly with the Prime Minister.<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to go into the details of his contacts, so I\u2019m not saying yes or no.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Why is that, like, such a secret?\u00a0 Normally, you\u2019re very okay with it.\u00a0 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Because, I think, right\u2026 because right now, for us, the focus is on the success of his efforts rather than detailing those efforts in a play-by-play.<\/p>\n
Abdelhamid?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thank you, Steph.\u00a0 I want to follow up with a question that James had, Betul and Edie, about the activities of the Secretary-General and his Special Envoy, Mr.\u00a0Wennesland.\u00a0 So, the SG so far, he has not contacted any Israeli officials.\u00a0 He\u2019s not prepared to go to the region, and Wennesland is engaged, but we don\u2019t know what kind of engagement.<\/p>\n
I want to ask you specifically, can you give us a rundown of what he\u2019s doing, Mr.\u00a0Wennesland?\u00a0 Did he leave his office in Jerusalem?\u00a0 Did he leave his office?\u00a0 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Abdelhamid, I did not say that Mr.\u00a0Wennesland was going about his normal work.\u00a0 He is having deep and extensive contacts with all the key actors involved.\u00a0 And if you\u2019ve asked me if he\u2019s left\u2026 I don\u2019t know\u2026 did you ask me, what, if he\u2019s left his office?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Yeah, if he left his office in Jerusalem.<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I have no doubt that he has stepped out of his office to speak to various people.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Does he\u2026<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 This is not normal times.\u00a0 I understand the need from your end to have as much of a detailed play-by-play, but I\u2019m not able to go into that, as I don\u2019t want to do anything that would jeopardize his work.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 The other thing you just said, that UNRWA was asking for $38\u00a0million for emergency relief, is the Secretary-General is willing\u2026 is he willing to also release some money from the emergency fund that he has in his control?\u00a0 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Yes, we are working on that, and we hope to have an announcement on a CERF (Central Emergency Response Fund) allocation very soon.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Yesterday, Steph, you said that Israel had not allowed some of the humanitarian shipment going into Gaza.\u00a0 Is there any development in that area also?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 The crossings remain closed.\u00a0 We very much [hope] that both the Erez and the Kerem Shalom, which is the one used for goods, that those crossings are open as quickly as possible.\u00a0 They were closed yesterday while we were trying to get things in for security reasons.\u00a0 So, the shipments\u2026 there were shipments of vaccines for state kicks\u2026 aid kits, food and other emergency medicine that was not able to get in.<\/p>\n
Okay.\u00a0 James?<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 You\u2019re being very cagey on one question you\u2019ve been asked repeatedly, which is the contact that the Secretary-General or anyone at the UN has had with the Israeli Prime Minister.\u00a0 I would argue it\u2019s important for us to know whether the man who\u2019s leading a military operation bombarding the people of Gaza is refusing to take the UN\u2019s calls.<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I understand your position.\u00a0 I\u2019m not going to go any further from my end.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Okay.\u00a0 Couple of other questions, then, if I can.\u00a0 Actually, I have one more\u2026 you\u2019ve said that you\u2019re very much focusing on ending the conflict.\u00a0 We understand that, but clearly, it draws attention to the wider issues of this conflict, which has been festering, and no one\u2019s been doing anything; the Security Council\u2019s not been doing anything, for a very long time.<\/p>\n
I had an interesting Twitter exchange last week with the former French ambassador, G\u00e9rard Araud.\u00a0 He said\u2026 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Every Twitter exchange with G\u00e9rard Araud is interesting.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 \u201cThe two-State solution has been dead for some time,\u201d he told me.\u00a0 And then, talking about Security Council, ambassador says, \u201cThey have nothing else, so they pretend.\u201d<\/p>\n
Does the Secretary-General believe the two-State solution is dead, that Israel\u2019s already built on top of the Palestinian State, or should there be some fresh thinking now?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Listen, no one is ever against any fresh thinking, but I think, as we\u2019ve said, the longer this conflict goes on, the longer the underlying political issues are not solved, the more difficult it will get to that goal that we\u2019ve always called for, which is two States, Israel and Palestine, living in peace side by side.\u00a0 The more time passes, the more difficult it will be to get to that goal.<\/p>\n
\/…<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Yeah.\u00a0 Did the Secretary-General express, directly or indirectly, any admiration of the heroic resistance of the Palestinian people in resisting an oppressive army, which reminds us of the colonial power trying to subjugate an innocent people under occupation for over 54\u00a0years and a Gaza under siege for over 13\u00a0years?\u00a0 Did he see that picture of a resilient people?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I think what the Secretary-General sees are civilians who are suffering and proving resilient in extremely difficult circumstances and people who deserve to be helped and deserve to be helped by the international community, and we hope that they will through funding to our humanitarian appeals.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Steph, can I ask one more\u2026 from Toby, NHK?\u00a0 [cross talk]<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 Go ahead, Toby.<\/p>\n
Question<\/u>:\u00a0 Thanks, sorry.\u00a0 This is sort of a strange question, but just to follow up on James on, like\u2026 in the political process, Oslo Accords were before my time, and I don\u2019t really have a practical image in my head of how this kind of diplomacy\u2026 how the UN facilitates this kind of diplomacy.\u00a0 Like, what would a political dialogue facilitated by the UN to create a political process for reconciliation and the two-State solution, which is this theoretical concept that we always hear about, what is that\u2026 what has that looked like in the past, and what would that look like now?<\/p>\n
Spokesman<\/u>:\u00a0 I would encourage you to buy a couple of books to look at what that looked like in the past, and I think there\u2019s a movie version of the Oslo play.\u00a0 It\u2019s coming out on HBO next week.\u00a0 [laughter]<\/p>\n
But\u2026 in all seriousness, what we want to see, what we\u2019ve always called for, are direct face-to-face discussions between the parties, between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to settle a number of these final settlement issues so we can get to what we want to see, what is based on UN resolutions, which is two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side.\u00a0 And we \u2014 and I know a lot of other actors \u2014 will do whatever it can to help bring that about.<\/p>\n
Thank you.<\/p>\n
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