22 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –
The Secretary General of the United Nations, António Guterres, has expressed this Wednesday concern about the escalation of violence in Palestinian territory after at least ten people have died and more than a hundred have been injured during a raid in the West Bank city of Nablus.
Guterres stressed during a speech before a UN committee on the rights of the Palestinians that the priority at the moment is to “avoid further escalation, reduce tensions and restore security”.
Likewise, he has once again stressed that the status of Jerusalem “cannot be changed by unilateral actions” at the same time that he has ruled that “each new settlement” in the West Bank is “another obstacle on the road to peace.”
“At the same time, incitement to violence is a dead end. Nothing justifies terrorism, which must be rejected by all,” he stressed, adding that the UN’s goal remains to achieve a two-state solution.
For this reason, the Secretary General explained that “the prevailing trends on the ground”, in reference to the latest tensions in the West Bank, make it clear that time is against us. Thus, he has underlined the need for regional and international partners to work “to help the Palestinians and Israelis to restore a credible political horizon.”
For his part, the Palestinian representative to the United Nations, Riyad Mansur, has called on the international community and the UN Security Council to provide urgent protection to the Palestinian people, according to the WAFA news agency.
Mansur, in addition to naming the Israeli operation in Nablus, which has left ten dead, has stressed that the lack of protection for the Palestinian people has caused the death of 61 Palestinians, including 13 minors, since the beginning of the year.
Likewise, it has requested the inclusion of Israel in a list on violation of the Human Rights of minors for killing, injuring, arresting and terrorizing Palestinian children. In this sense, he referred to a report by the Secretary General of the United Nations on children and armed conflicts.
