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Join on Telegram Rabat – The UN is warning that a “full scale war” is brewing amid violence between Israel and Palestine in recent weeks. Tor Wennesland, UN special coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, called to “stop the fire immediately,” on Twitter on May 11, mirroring several recent warnings originating from within the ranks of the UN.
The spokesperson for the UN Human Rights Commissioner and the UN’s local refugee agency issued similar warnings on Tuesday as the rapid escalation of attacks between Israel and Palestine continues.
‘Stop the fire’
Norwegian diplomat Tor Wennesland took to Twitter to warn of the consequences if local political leaders do not deescalate the Israeli aggression. “We’re escalating towards a full scale war,” Wennesland warned, adding that “the cost of war in Gaza is devastating & is being paid by ordinary people.”
Wennesland stated that the UN is working with “all sides” in order to “restore calm,” laying the blame for a further exacerbation of hostilities on “leaders on all sides.” The envoy’s statement mirrored a May 8 joint statement by the envoys of the “Middle East Quartet” representing the EU, Russia, the US, and the UN itself.
The four envoys underlined the cause of recent escalations between Israel and Palestine. They expressed their “serious concern the possible evictions of Palestinian families,” calling particular attention to the illegal Israeli advances on “Sheikh Jarrah and Silwan neighborhoods in East Jerusalem.”
The joint statement issued over the weekend called “upon Israeli authorities to exercise restraint and to avoid measures that would further escalate the situation during this period of Muslim Holy Days.” It called for “all sides to uphold and respect the status quo at the holy sites.”
UNRWA ‘condemns in the strongest possible terms’
The UN’s refugee agency for Palestine (UNRWA) has “in the strongest possible terms” condemned the “killing” of four children near the Beit Hanoun refugee camp in Gaza. In a May 11 statement, it said that the four children are “two siblings and two cousins,” all under the age of 12.
The UNRWA emphasized its “profound concern” with the recent escalation in violence between Israel and Palestine. The recent influx in hostilities is having an “impact of the military escalation on children, by placing their lives and futures at risk,” the agency stated.
The refugee agency repeated that “children are and must be protected under International Law and those responsible for breaching their obligations must be held fully accountable on the basis of clear evidence.” In response, the UN agency is calling for “maximum restraint” and adherence to international law “in the strictest terms.”
OHCHR ‘deeply concerned”
The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) has similarly expressed it is “deeply concerned” over the recent escalation of violence between Israel and Palestine. In a press briefing on the issue, spokesperson Rupert Colville on May 11 called for a “re-doubling of efforts” to de-escalate the situation.
Colville pointed to data from Palestine’s Red Crescent that showed 915 Palestinians being injured “mostly by Israeli security forces” between May 7 and 10. Israeli injuries are limited to 20, mostly security forces, as well as 17 civilians injured by rockets fired from Gaza.
The OHCHR condemned Israeli use of force against “those exercising their rights peacefully,” while similarly condemning Gaza rocket fire. “The use of indiscriminate weapons, such as the rockets being fired into Israel, is strictly prohibited under international humanitarian law and must stop immediately,” Colville told the press.
Yet the OHCHR could not avoid stressing the disproportionate impact of Israel’s use of force against civilians in Palestine. Colville quoted Gaza’s Health Ministry as reporting the deaths of “24 Palestinians, including nine children and one woman.”
The Health Ministry has on May 12 updated these numbers to “53 dead, including 14 children and 3 women, and 320 injuries.”
Israel’s airstrikes against the densely populated city of Gaza violate respect for “the cardinal principles on the conduct of hostilities, namely distinction, proportionality and precautions,” according to the UN human rights agency.
Still, the UN itself has in the past admitted that Israel ignores both the UN and international law in its advances on territory and citizens of Palestine. What impact this week’s UN pleas will have on the rapidly devolving situation, remains to be seen.
