US blocks UN move to defend Hebron mission

new york — The United States on Wednesday blocked a proposed UN Security Council statement expressing regret over Israel’s decision to end an international observer force in the West Bank city of Hebron, diplomats said.

Kuwait and Indonesia had circulated the draft statement following a closed-door council meeting during which many countries expressed concern about the Israeli move.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced last week that he would not renew the mandate of the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH), accusing the mission led by Norway of bias.

The 64-member team of unarmed observers was established in Hebron following a massacre of Palestinians in 1994.

The proposed statement was to express the Security Council’s “regret” about Israel’s “unilateral decision” and call for “calm and restraint” in Hebron, according to the text seen by AFP.

It stressed “the importance of the mandate of the TIPH and its efforts to foster calm in a highly sensitive area and fragile situation on the ground, which risks further deteriorating, as reflected in the escalating cycle of violence.” The text warned Israel that it has an obligation under international law “to protect the Palestinian civilian population in Hebron” as well as the rest of the occupied territories. The US, which has firmly defended Israel’s policies at the UN, moved quickly to block the proposed response, diplomats said. —