Inaction encouraged Israel to continue defiance of int’l community: Kuwait
Kuwait regrets UN Security Council’s failure to adopt Idlib ceasefire draft
NEW YORK: Kuwait has reiterated that the continued international inaction has clearly encouraged Israel to continue its defiance and intransigence in front of the will of the international community, violating international law and defying resolutions of international legitimacy. This was stated in Kuwait’s speech at the Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian issue delivered by Permanent Representative Ambassador Mansour Al-Otaibi.
Otaibi said that the Security Council, in resolution 2334, demands that Israel immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and fully respect all its legal obligations in this regard. He stressed that Israel, the occupying force, while continuing to build and expand illegal settlements in the occupied State of Palestine, including East Jerusalem, sent a clear message that it was determined to continue.
Otaibi noted that building new settlements, expanding existing settlements and annexing land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, undermines the opportunity to establish a Palestinian state based on relevant Security Council resolutions and a two-state solution. He added that the measures taken by Israel and the policies pursued by the occupying Power on an ongoing basis and disregard of world opinion is clearly reflected in its recent announcement to approve the establishment of more than 2,300 housing units in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem.
Otaibi stated that this latest step was followed by the recent provocative declaration of the intention to annex territories from the occupied West Bank in 1967 in flagrant violation of international law, the UN Charter and the relevant international resolutions, including Security Council resolutions 242 and 338. He explained that the illegal Israeli annexation plans for the Palestinian territories led to an increase in the number of settlers, which in turn contributed to the increase in the number of violent and criminal attacks by settlers against Palestinian civilians, which are still taking place under the eyes of the Israeli occupation forces. “The responsibility of the international community is clear and it is more urgent than ever to maintain international law and hold Israel accountable for all its violations, including campaigns to seize Palestinian buildings and houses, arbitrary arrests of Palestinian civilians and unilateral decisions,” he said. He pointed to the decision to withhold part of the tax revenues from the Palestinian Authority, the pressures on UNRWA and the targeting of demonstrators participating in the Great Return march with live ammunition, which could amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Otaibi pointed out that the absence of any serious measures to activate accountability pursuant to Security Council Resolution 2334 and other relevant UN resolutions has unfortunately led to the persistence of the occupying Power in its flagrant violations of international law and the Fourth Geneva Convention of 1949.
Idlib ceasefire
Meanwhile, Otaibi expressed disappointment at Russia and China blocking of a UN Security Council draft resolution to end hostilities in Idlib Governorate, northwest Syria, in a voting that was held on Thursday. “[Thursday’s] session and the stances of each UNSC member towards this balanced humanitarian draft will go down in history,” he said, noting that the draft was meant to protect civilian life and property and end the suffering of civilians in Idlib.
Ambassador Al-Otaibi made the comments at a UNSC session after the vote of the draft jointly put forward by Kuwait, Germany and Belgium - the three copenholders of the Syria humanitarian file. “The people in Idlib, particularly women, children and the elderly, will remember the results of the voting and continue looking at the UN Security Council with bitter disappointment,” he said. “The Council’s failure to adopt this purely humanitarian draft adds to the chain of failures by the Council to address the Syrian disaster over long years. No tangible progress was made towards ending the ordeal of the Syrian people,” he protested.
The fact that Russia and China used their veto powers to block the draft means virtually that the lives of millions of people in Idlib are in jeopardy at a time when the UN cautions against the biggest humanitarian disaster in the 21st century due to the ongoing hostilities in Idlib, he reminded. “The shocking figures released by the UN on the tune of the catastrophe in Idlib were the main motive that prompted us, the co-penholders of the Syria humanitarian file, to table this draft after lengthy transparent consultations with all UNSC members over the last three weeks,” Ambassador Otaibi pointed out. The military escalation in Idlib since April has led to more than 1,000 civilian deaths and forced nearly half a million others, mainly women and children, to leave their homes, besides the extensive material damage inflicted on civilian infrastructure including hospitals and schools, he went on. “Regrettably these serious developments and violations of the international humanitarian law drew no correct or unified stand,” he said, reaffirming Kuwait’s denunciation of any attacks on civilian life or infrastructure whatever the attackers might be. He asserted the need to bring to book those responsible for such human rights violations.
Ambassador Otaibi reiterated that Kuwait believes there is no military solution to the crisis in Syria, saying that the only exit is through a political settlement that could realize the aspirations of the brotherly people of Syria based on the UNSC resolution 2254 and the Geneva declaration of 2012.
China, Russia block Kuwait, Germany, Belgiumpresented draft UNSC resolution calling for
ceasefire in Idlib
The blocked resolution calls on all parties to immediately cease hostilities to avoid a further deterioration of the already catastrophic humanitarian situation in Idlib Governorate, beginning at noon Damascus time on September 21, 2019. It also demands member states to ensure that all measures taken to counter terrorism, including in Idlib Governorate, comply with their obligations under international law. It stresses that counterterrorism operations do not absolve parties to armed conflicts of their obligations under international humanitarian law, including their obligation to distinguish between civilian populations and combatants, and urges all parties to apply the principles of distinction, proportionality, and the obligation to take all feasible precautions to avoid and in any event minimize harm to civilians and civilians objects. It calls upon all parties to respect and fulfill their commitments to existing ceasefire agreements, including the full implementation of resolutions 2254 (2015), 2268 (2016) and 2401 (2018). Furthermore, it urges all member states to use their influence with parties to ensure the implementation of a cessation of hostilities, the fulfilment of existing commitments and to support efforts to create the conditions for a durable and lasting nation-wide ceasefire.
War crimes
The draft resolution recalls that some of the violations and abuses committed in Syria may amount to war crimes and crimes against humanity, and stresses that those who have committed violations of international humanitarian law and international human rights law must be held accountable. It reiterates a demand that all parties allow and facilitate, safe, unimpeded and sustained humanitarian access for the United Nations and its implementing partners to requested areas and populations in Syria in order to ensure that humanitarian assistance reaches people through the most direct route in order to meet basic needs, consistent with the provisions of its resolution 2449 (2018). It underlines the need that all parties facilitate safe and unimpeded passage for medical personnel and humanitarian personnel exclusively engaged in medical duties, their equipment, transport and supplies, including surgical items, to all people in need, consistent with international humanitarian law.
It calls upon all parties, in particular the Syrian authorities, to undertake confidence-building measures, including through the immediate release of any arbitrarily detained persons, particularly women, children, and the elderly, as well as the provision of information on missing persons and handover of the bodies of the deceased to families, as outlined in resolution 2474 (2019). The draft resolution reiterates that there will be no significant and sustainable improvement of the humanitarian situation in the absence of a political solution to the Syrian conflict in line with resolution 2254 (2015) and the Geneva Communique of 30 June 2012, to facilitate a Syrian-led and Syrian-owned political transition, in order to end the conflict in Syria.
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