UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, yesterday, expressed grave concern over increased violence in the West Bank.

“I brief you today (yesterday), as the security situation in the occupied West Bank is caught in a downward spiral. Too many people, overwhelmingly Palestinians, have been killed and injured in daily violence,” he told the UN Security Council.

Mounting hopelessness, anger and tension, have once again erupted into a deadly cycle of violence, that is increasingly difficult to contain. Decades of violence and its toll on the Palestinians, as well as, a prolonged absence of meaningful negotiations, and a failure to resolve the key issues fuelling conflict, have created fertile ground for this dynamic, he said.

So far, 2022 is on course to be the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank, since the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs began systematically tracking Palestinian fatalities in 2005, he said.

“I am alarmed by the intensity of violence in the occupied West Bank, including the high number of Palestinians killed by Israeli security forces, numerous armed attacks by Palestinians against Israelis, including killings, and settler violence,” said Wennesland. “I reiterate that, perpetrators of all acts of violence must be held accountable and that security forces must exercise maximum restraint and use lethal force only when strictly unavoidable.”

The immediate priority is to work to calm the situation and reverse the negative trends on the ground. This will require determined actions by both parties, supported by the international community. Efforts are also urgently needed to empower and strengthen the Palestinian Authority, and build towards a return to a political process. A failure to implement strategies to address both the symptoms and the root causes of violent escalation will only worsen an already explosive situation, he said.

Wennesland called on the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to recognise what is at stake and to take the necessary steps to restore calm, with the full support of the international community. At the same time, efforts must be made to address the root causes of conflict.

The United Nations remains actively engaged with all relevant parties, and is committed to supporting Palestinians and Israelis, to resolve the conflict by ending the occupation and realising a two-state solution on the basis of the 1967 borders, in line with relevant UN resolutions, international law and bilateral agreements, he said.

Source: NAM NEWS NETWORK