Free Republic

Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said that the main subject of the meeting between the terrorist organization and UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov was the treatment of Hamas members held in Israeli prisons. According to the Islamic Jihad-affiliated website PALTODAY, Haniyeh told Mladenov that there is a Palestinian Arab consensus on the issue of the security prisoners. In addition, letters were sent from the leadership of the security prisoners, in which the "grave situation" was noted in the prisons because of the measures taken against them. The Hamas leadership asked the UN Secretary-General's envoy to...

The UN special envoy to the Middle East Nickolay Mladenov on Tuesday urged U.S. President Donald Trump to resume funding he had cut to the UN Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the UN agency which assists “Palestinian refugees”. Addressing a UN Security Council meeting on the Middle East and quoted by Haaretz, Mladenov said that "UNRWA’s financial crisis remains a very serious concern. At present, UNRWA needs some $217 million to sustain its work in 2018. I urge the swift mobilization of support to enable the continuity of assistance and a maintenance of stability on the ground in the region."...

The United Nations envoy on Middle East peace, Nickolay Mladenov, on Thursday expressed deep concern over a surge in tensions and violence around Jerusalem's Old City. “I call on all concerned parties to de-escalate the situation and on moderate voices to speak up against those who try to fuel tensions,” Mladenov said in a statement published on his website. He welcomed the commitment of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to uphold and respect the status quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites, and Palestinian Authority (PA) chairman Mahmoud Abbas's condemnation of violence, specifically the deadly attack on two Israeli policemen last Friday. “I...

The United Nations will explore options with Israel's new government for a return to negotiations on creating a Palestinian state within a reasonable timeframe, the body’s new envoy said Tuesday, according to AFP. Nickolay Mladenov, the UN special Middle East coordinator, told the Security Council that "the coming period will be critical to the future of the peace process." Peace talks between Israel and the Palestinian Authority (PA) have been comatose since a major American push for a final deal ended in failure in April 2014. UN efforts to revive the peace process were effectively on hold in recent months...