UN envoy condemns Jerusalem bombing

UN’s Middle East envoy and top rights official deplore Jerusalem bomb attack

In separate statements issued, respectively, in Gaza and Bahrain, Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and Mary Robinson, the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, also called for a comprehensive approach to resolving the conflict peacefully.

Distressed by the heavy loss of civilian lives in the bombing – which reportedly killed 9 Israeli civilians and injured some 50 others – Mr. Roed-Larsen emphasized that the UN stood “four-square against terrorism, no matter what purpose it is stated to achieve.”

In his reaction, issued on Sunday, the envoy expressed concern over the mounting death toll on both sides, and repeated the call by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan for the Israeli Defence Forces to withdraw from refugee camps in Palestinian towns. Mr. Roed-Larsen warned that the parties were “sinking deeper and deeper into the quagmire of death and counter-death.” Stressing that there was no military solution to the conflict, he called on both sides to “stop this bloodshed, this killing that achieves nothing” and refocus efforts towards achieving a negotiated solution.

“Only through comprehensive approaches that encompass political, economic and security issues can the grave dynamics of the present situation be altered, calm restored and the right atmosphere for the resumption of sustainable peace talks created,” he said.

For her part, Mrs. Robinson said she had learned with “shock and horror” of the latest bombing, noting that among those killed were two babies and a 10-year old boy “caught in the tragic cycle of violence that is worsening in the region.” She underscored the futility of seeking progress through violence, saying that suicide bombings in Israel “harm the interests and aspirations of the Palestinian people because they undermine support for the cause of self-determination and the fight against occupation.”

“I call with great urgency on the leaders of the region to show the necessary political will and courage to bring the violence to an end,” Mrs. Robinson said in the statement, which was released on Sunday. She called on the Israeli Government and the Palestinian Authority to provide a “political way forward.”

“My thoughts today are with the families of the victims of these recent depressing events and, more than ever, of the urgent imperative of resolving the protracted conflict between two neighbouring peoples,” she said

Terje Roed-Larsen, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, this guy is fired probably.

They had to send Mary Robinson to make sure it won't tilt against the Palestinians.

“four-square against terrorism, no matter what purpose it is stated to achieve.”

Yup, he'll be history. You'll never hear Mary Robinson and Kofi Annan saying this about a Palestinian bombing

UN EXPRESSES 'DEEP CONCERN' AT DECISION OF ISRAELI SECURITY CABINET TO TARGET REFUGEE CAMPS

GAZA, 4 March (UNRWA) -- Peter Hansen, Commissioner General of the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA), has urged the Israeli Government to heed the United Nations Secretary General’s call for an immediate withdrawal of Israeli Defence Forces from refugee camps in the occupied Palestinian territory. His call follows the re-entry of Israeli troops into Jenin Camp and reports that the Israeli security cabinet has decided to pursue a policy of entering more refugee camps.
Mr. Hansen said: “I am deeply concerned at the re-entry of Israeli forces into Jenin Camp and at reports that the Israeli authorities are planning more incursions. Such operations endanger the lives of refugees, who are covered by UNRWA’s humanitarian mandate, and damage the humanitarian facilities of the camps.”
For a second day running Mr Hansen and UNRWA staff attempted to enter Jenin Camp with a delivery of medicine, food and other humanitarian supplies. After being held up for several hours some medicines were later delivered to Jenin hospital.
He said: “Refugees from Jenin have informed me about the dire situation inside the camp. Many people were reported injured or killed. Many refugee shelters had been destroyed, and several were still ablaze. The people who met with me were pleading for help to get the injured to hospitals or to get medical care to them on the ground, as well as to allow the fire brigades to put out the fires before they spread further. There was urgent need for UNRWA and International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) medical teams and the fire brigade to gain access to the area.”
“At the urging of the ICRC and UNRWA, the Israeli Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Defence, as well as those on the Palestinian side, were able to effect a very brief ceasefire so that some of the needs could be addressed.”
For more information contact: Paul McCann on (972) 059 428 008; or Sami Mshasha on (972) 050 317 094.

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