Statement by Ambassador Vassily A. Nebenzia, Permanent Representative of the Russian Federation to the United Nations, at the Security Council meeting on threat to international peace and security (the Gaza Strip)
We thank Special Coordinator Nickolay Mladenov for his briefing.
We note with regret that in addition to the tragic events of recent days in the occupied Palestinian territories, on 29 May there was once again a sharp escalation in armed activity on the border between Israel and the Gaza Strip. Fighters fired on settlements in Israeli territory. The Israeli air force retaliated with missile strikes.
It is worrisome that the parties are increasingly resorting to violence, constantly deepening their distrust and making the possibility of relaunching the peace process an ever more distant prospect. The civilians of Israel and Palestine are becoming hostages to this developing situation. We believe that relying on force and rejecting direct dialogue represent a road to nowhere.
That relates not only to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, but to any other crisis situation. We call on all parties to exercise restraint. We have repeatedly said that the trend to increasing destabilization in the occupied Palestinian territories is directly connected to the impasse in the political process. The Middle East settlement, unresolved for so long, is in a stalemate, and instead of tackling its fundamental issues, the Security Council has been compelled to address the undesirable consequences of the impasse.
That approach is not productive, to put it mildly, and will not enable us to overcome the massive deterioration in the situation, which is certainly in nobody’s interest. Nor will it help us to address the chronic problems of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, such as provocative rhetoric, unilateral actions, outbreaks of violence and settlement activities.
It will be crucial to mobilize efforts to resume the political process between Palestinians and Israelis on the basis of the well-known international law on the subject, including the decisions of the Security Council and the principles of the Arab Peace Initiative, the outcome of which should be the implementation of a two-State solution and the establishment of an independent and sovereign Palestinian State with its capital in East Jerusalem.
Our position on the demonstrations in Gaza remains unchanged. We affirm the right to peaceful protest action and firmly condemn the indiscriminate use of force against civilians and the firing of rockets into Israeli territory. We call on the parties to refrain from steps that could lead to further deterioration of the situation. It will be important to continue intensive efforts to ease the difficult humanitarian situation in the Gaza Strip.
The continuing hopelessness of the situation plays into the hands of forces with an interest in further radicalizing the situation. Widespread despair is a fertile breeding ground for extremism. In that connection, we note the important work being done by the United Nations and particularly by the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East in the occupied Palestinian territories.
We welcome and support the involvement of regional actors in the Middle East peace process. We commend Egypt and Jordan for the role they have been playing in Palestinian affairs. In conclusion, we would like to underscore that the direction of the developments in the situation on the occupied Palestinian territories once again confirms that the international community does not have the right to ignore Palestine while addressing other problems in the Middle East.
We must act. In our view, the Middle East Quartet is the appropriate and necessary forum, as endorsed by Security Council resolutions, for ending the impasse in the Middle East peace process.
