UN chief warns of occupied West Bank’s future amid Israeli calls for annexation
UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has expressed deep concern about “an existential threat to the integrity and contiguity” of Gaza and the occupied West Bank due to Israeli actions and “unabated illegal settlement expansion”.
Addressing a meeting of the UN’s Security Council, Guterres said “senior Israeli officials openly speak of formally annexing all or part of the West Bank in the coming months”.
“Any such annexation would constitute a most serious violation of international law,” he said.
The UN chief also urged Israel and Hamas to ensure that their newly-agreed truce leads to a permanent ceasefire and the release of captives.
The ceasefire must also involve simultaneous actions on the ground, Guterres said, including:
- Unhindered UN access throughout Gaza including by the UN’s agency for Palestinian refugees (UNRWA), which Israel is seeking to ban.
- Scaled-up aid deliveries and ensuring Palestinians have access to that aid.
- And the protection of Gaza’s civilians.
Palestinians must have ‘self-determination and statehood’, Pakistan tells UN
Pakistan’s UN envoy, Munir Akram, has expressed support for Palestinian “self-determination and statehood” in a speech to a UN Security Council (UNSC) meeting convened in response to the ceasefire between Hamas and Israel.
“Pakistan hopes that all stages of the ceasefire agreement will be fully implemented and that the ceasefire will become permanent,” Akram said.
“We hope also that the Palestinians will be able to agree on arrangements for Gaza’s inclusive effective governance.”
Akram called for Israeli troops to fully withdraw from Gaza, noting that “their presence is illegal” and called for “accountability for the crimes committed in this brutal war”.
He also called for Israel to immediately withdraw from the “separation zone” between Syria and Israel that Israeli forces occupied in December.
Pakistan began a two-year term as one of 10 elected members of the UNSC at the beginning of January.
Qatar calls for UN resolution on full implementation of Gaza ceasefire deal
Qatar’s representative to the UN, Sheikha Alya Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, has called on the international body to help ensure the success of the Gaza ceasefire deal, including by passing a binding resolution supporting its full implementation.
Addressing the UN Security Council, Al Thani reiterated Qatar’s opposition to any attempts to “undermine a sustainable resolution to the Palestinian issue, including attempts to annex Palestinian territory and violate religious sanctities”, according to comments published by the Qatari Foreign Ministry.
Qatar believes the ceasefire agreement should mark “the beginning of serious efforts to resolve the Palestinian issue”, she said.
UN Security Council meeting on Gaza ceasefire will reconvene on Friday
The UN Security Council will reconvene on Friday afternoon after running out of time to hear from all of the member states that wanted to speak at a meeting about the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas and the situation in the Gaza Strip.
So far more than 50 countries have addressed the meeting, as well as the UN secretary-general, the European Union and the League of Arab States.
Eleven more countries are signed up to speak when the meeting reconvenes on Friday.
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