U.N. Security Council to hear briefing on humanitarian situation in Palestinian territories

The Palestinian envoy to the U.N. had asked for the briefing as part of efforts to
keep the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the international spotlight. (Reuters)

By Al Arabiya with AFP
 
The U.N. Security Council will on Wednesday hear a briefing on the humanitarian situation in the occupied Palestinian territories which the United States had opposed, diplomats said.

The Palestinian envoy to the U.N. had asked for the briefing as part of efforts to keep the deadlock in Israeli-Palestinian negotiations in the international spotlight.

Valerie Amos, the U.N. humanitarian coordinator, will give details on the impact of Israeli settlements at the U.N. Security Council meeting on Wednesday morning as part of discussions on the Middle East, diplomats said.

Morocco officially made the request for the briefing as the Arab representative on the 15-member council. The briefing would be “useful,” said Morocco’s U.N. ambassador Mohammed Loulichki.

“We are of the view that this is not of optimal timing or focus but obviously we respect Valerie Amos and her work... around the world and we will hear the briefing and we will respond to it in substance,” U.S. ambassador Susan Rice told reporters.

Direct talks between the Palestinians and Israel have been frozen since September 2010 when Israel halted a moratorium on settlement building in the occupied territories.

Since then Israel has stepped up construction activity, drawing widespread criticism, including from the United States. The U.N. has also reported an increase in attacks by extremist settlers on Palestinians.

Highlighting its frustration at the moribund peace process, the Palestinians have applied for full membership of the U.N. and succeeded in winning membership of UNESCO.

The application for U.N. membership has hit deadlock at the U.N. Security Council where the United States has threatened to veto any recommendation in support of the Palestinian bid. The United States and Israel say that only direct Palestinian-Israeli talks can produce a definitive peace accord.

$300 million appeal

Meanwhile the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugees UNRWA on Tuesday launched a $300 million appeal for the West Bank and Gaza, saying needs in Gaza in particular “remain widespread and acute.”

The agency said it would devote three-quarters of the total appeal to Gaza, and that 80 percent of the funds would go to promoting “food security, through food assistance, cash assistance and job creation programs.”

UNRWA’S Deputy Commissioner-General Margot Ellis said Palestinians in Gaza continue to suffer the consequences of Israel’s December 2008-January 2009 Operation Cast Lead.

“The effects of the war still persist today and the humanitarian needs of the women, men and children of Gaza remain widespread and acute,” she said at the Gaza launch of the appeal.

She said Gaza requires “dozens more schools and thousands of homes,” with construction hampered by Israel’s blockade on the coastal territory.

“Three years on, UNRWA calls on the international community to work with the relevant parties to ease further the restrictions, give swifter approval for more projects and put an end to the blockade,” she said.

UNRWA expects to spend one quarter of the appeal funds in the West Bank, where Ellis said “forced displacements, settlement expansion, and settler violence are taking a devastating toll.”
U.N. Security Council to hear briefing on humanitarian situation in Palestinian territories