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U.N. Security Council Urged to End Israeli Violation of International Law
Palestinian U.N. Observer Nasser al-Kidwa Tuesday afternoon urged the United Nations Security Council to end what he called Israel's "brutal campaign" against Palestinians and violations of international law.
Addressing the open debate of the Security Council on the recent Middle East violence, Al-kidwa said the council "has to put an immediate end to the brutal campaign by Israel" and halt the " violation by the occupying power under the Fourth Convention" and Security Council resolutions, in addition to peace accords.
If the council did this, it would have played a crucial role in addressing the immediate situation and "in creating the necessary favorable environment so that the peace process could be resuscitated and perhaps later could be resumed towards the final agreement between the two sides," he said.
The observer said Ariel Sharon, Israel's opposition leader, took a "provocative and insulting step" against Arabs and Muslims when he visited al-Haram al-Sharif "with the aim of bolstering the illegitimate Israeli claims."
Al-Kidwa said the protests were the result of "the conviction of our people of its need to defend its holy sites in the face of Israeli aggression" and against the backdrop of frustration over Israeli government policies and attitudes that impeded any meaningful progress in the peace process.
Al-kidwa charged that some Israeli soldiers "willfully killed a number of Palestinian civilians."
"We are convinced that some members of the Israeli army who committed crimes of war must be brought to trial and punished for that," the observer added.
The Security Council held the debate after it failed Monday night and Tuesday morning to reach an agreement on a statement on the violence.
According to reports reaching here, the six-day long violence between the Palestinians and Israelis, which began after Sharon last Thursday visit to al-Haram al-sharif, has so far claimed 55 lives and injured more than 1,000.
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