UN high official warns of escalation in the Middle East

Kieran Prendergast, undersecretary-general for political affairs at the UN, warned of the increasing violence in the Palestinian territories, urging the Palestinian Authority to ‘end all violence acts”, and called on Israel to support the P.A.

Prendergast said that the recent escalating events deteriorate trust and confidence between Israel and the P.A, directly harming peace efforts in the region.

Also, Prendergast said in a briefing to the UN Security Council that the Israeli declared withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and part of the northern West Bank should be seen as an important step towards the vision of a two-state solution.

Prendergast added that the Palestinian Authority should conduct more efforts to ends attacks against Israel in order to ‘ensure its security’, while Israel should conduct more efforts to support the Palestinian leadership, warning Israel that its delays of handing over Palestinian cities to the P.A, and refraining from releasing Palestinian political prisoners “threatens to undermine the leadership of Mahmoud Abbas”.    

Prendergast reported that the United Nation is “extremely concerned” over the continuation of constructing of the Separation Wall in the West Bank, saying that it has huge affects on the daily lives of the Palestinians, and is considered a unilateral  prejudge to the final outcome of the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks.

Referring to the situation in Lebanon, Prendergast said that it is fragile, “in spite of hopeful signs”, and called for ending all acts which could inflame the situation on the Israeli-Lebanese borders.

Also, Prendergast added that the UN will soon deploy an independent commission to Lebanon to investigate the assassination of the former Lebanese prime Minister, Rafik al-Hariri.

The UN sent a team to Lebanon to verify the withdrawal of Syrian forces from Lebanon; the team which returned to the states to write its report about the withdrawal could return at any time to Lebanon if it needs further information or verifications.

Meanwhile, Fayssal Mekdad, the Syrian ambassador to the UN said that his country expects ‘a good report that reflects the reality’ after it withdrew from Lebanon.