The U.N.’s Middle East envoy briefed the U.N. Security Council on the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005.
Tor Wennesland, special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, on screen briefing the U.N. Security Council on Monday. (U.N. Photo/Loey Felipe)
The U.N.’s Middle East envoy, Tor Wennesland, told the U.N. Security Council in a special briefing on Monday that Israeli occupation forces have killed over 200 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank this year, surpassing the total number of deaths last year (167). This year’s death toll is already the highest since 2005, Wennesland noted.
[Wennesland said nearly 30 Israelis have been killed so far this year.]
2/ The Council members were clear today that the violence must stop. I urge leaders to act now to calm the situation. This spiral of violence is leading nowhere but to more bloodshed.#Israel #Palestine
— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) August 21, 2023
The U.N. envoy pointed out “unilateral acts” by Israel, including increased settlement expansion, demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures, and settler violence, as the main reasons for the drastic rise in the number of deaths in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Israeli state violence against Palestinians has increased tremendously in the last couple of years. Israeli security forces have also carried out near daily raids in Palestinian localities, with increased demolition of Palestinian homes and other structures including schools. They have also repeatedly allowed extremist illegal settlers to go on rampages inside Palestinian localities under tight security cover.
On Tuesday, Israeli occupation forces killed another Palestinian teenager during a raid in al-Zababdeh town near Jenin in the occupied West Bank. 17-year-old Othman Atef Abu Kharj died in a hospital in Jenin after being shot by the Israeli forces, Wafa reported.
Some Palestinian groups have tried to confront the Israeli security forces and retaliated against the occupation’s attempts to forcefully displace Palestinians. Wennesland noted that around 30 Israelis have been killed this year in such Palestinian actions.
Russian representative Dmitry Polyanskiy emphasized that “the long-term stagnation of the Middle East peace process is compounded by Israel’s illegal unilateral actions creating irreversible facts on the ground.”
Wennesland underlined, “While we urgently focus on most critical issues and on de-escalating the situation on the ground, we cannot ignore the need to restore a political horizon.”
He also noted the dire financial condition of most of the Palestinian institutions such as the Palestinian Authority, which has a projected deficit of over $370 million this year. The condition of U.N. agencies such as the U.N. Relief and Work Agency and the World Food Programme is similar, threatening the food security of hundreds of thousands of Palestinian refugees in the occupied territories.
This article is from Peoples Dispatch.
The views expressed are solely those of the author and may or may not reflect those of Consortium News.
Dear BIDEN ET AL;
STOP SENDING MONEY TO ISRAEL. All that state wants to do is murder people and steal land. And sadly, they continue on murdering Palestinians. They have been doing that since 1948. Please use that money for America—you know that part about the, “more perfect union?” WORK ON THAT!
And I can guess that now those israelis are getting busy smearing the UN agent.
And USA supports murderous regimes, as it always has. Pretends to be Democratic but coups countries that try to be so. Such ugliness and bullshit.
Think someday they will come for me with my differing opinion? Who knows. Edward Snowden gave us clues.
Does it make them think that they should do something about the loss of life? Who in the hell are the UN and who in the hell do they represent?
Again, this should have been expected. It was predicted in 1948 when the UN General Assembly was discussing partition and an amalgamated governance of the territory. It’s bad enough what’s going on but it is not all. US foreign policy in the Middle East has been formed by Israel. The bombing of Syria by Israel in support of the US’s regime operation, the Sabra and Shatilla Refugee Camp massacre of some years ago are just recent. Consider the murder of 40 Arab worshipers in a mosque by Rabbi Kahane’s followers some years ago. The depredation of the Palestinian people by Israel is a long story. Let’s not forget the attack on the USS Liberty and the deaths of 34 US sailors. Yet, our government is not only bankrolling these people but are attempting other nations in the area to normalize relations with Israel ?
Is incremental genocide a Holocaust?
Sickening.
What kind of people would do such a thing?
And remember when they all took out lawn chairs to sit atop a hill and watch the bombing and destruction of Gaza.
Remember when they gunned down in cold-blood innocent unarmed civilians protesting at the Gaza concentration camp fence.
Thank you. We have short memories and very needed to be reminded.