• Military Menu                       

• Introduction
• Systems
• Facilities
• Agencies
• Industry
• Operations
• Countries
• Hot Documents
• News
• Reports
• Policy
• Budget
• Congress
• Links

• WMD
• Intelligence
• Homeland Security
• Space

11 August 2004

U.N. Reports No Progress on Mideast Peace

Prendergast briefs Security Council on developments

By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent

United Nations -- In the past month there has been no tangible progress towards resuming the Middle East peace process while violence is continuing to claim innocent lives, a senior U.N. official told the Security Council August 11.

Undersecretary General for Political Affairs Kieran Prendergast reported that neither Israelis nor Palestinians "have taken adequate steps to protect civilians, and both are in breach of their international legal obligations."

Israel, as the occupying power, has the responsibility to protect Palestinian civilians and not destroy their property unless absolutely necessary for military operations, he noted. The Palestinian Authority has obligations under agreements reached with Israel, under international humanitarian law, and in the road map to protect Israeli civilians from attacks emanating from territories in its control.

Prendergast reported a "new and worrying pattern" in which Palestinian militants launch rockets into Israel from the Gaza Strip followed by Israeli helicopter missile strikes and ever deepening incursions into areas adjacent to Israel. More than 60 rockets have been launched from Beit Hanoun at Israeli communities near the Gaza Strip.

He recounted the month's incidents that have resulted in civilian deaths, extra-judicial killings, and continuing attacks on Israel; the grim economic picture for the West Bank and Gaza; and the failure of both sides to implement their core commitments under the road map. Such a picture fills the atmosphere with despair and pessimism, the undersecretary general said, but he urged members of the Security Council "not to abandon ourselves to cynicism or despair."

"For the sake of the parties, Israelis and Palestinians alike, all of us must uphold the vision of a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, based on the resolutions of this council, which would bring an end to occupation and bring about two states, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders."

"While the daily toll of violence, injustice and the indignities of occupation may make this vision appear hopelessly utopian, it would in fact only become truly unattainable if we were to lose our commitment to its attainment," Prendergast said.

(The Washington File is a product of the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)