Posted on 2-3-2002

U.N. Chief Demands Israeli Withdrawal
By Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Feb 28 (IPS) - Thursday's Israeli military invasion of
Palestinian refugee camps in the West Bank drew sharp criticism from U.N.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who called for the immediate withdrawal of
all troops. "What distresses me this time", he said, "is the large number
of Palestinians reported dead or injured as a result of incursions into
refugee camps by the Israel Defence Force."

The raids, in the West Bank town of Nablus, claimed the lives of 11
Palestinians, with more than 100 injured, according to early estimates.
Battle tanks and helicopter gun ships supported the attacks, described as
the fiercest since the current Palestinian uprising began in September 2000.

The United Nations remained virtually paralysed in the face of continued
Israeli attacks, and Annan called on the invading Israeli military forces
to "withdraw from these camps immediately. "I implore both sides to refrain
from further actions which may endanger yet more civilians lives," he
added. Annan also expressed serious concern that some of the Israeli
military attacks have continued without any due respect "to the immunity of
humanitarian facilities, including those of the United Nations."

In the last 48 hours, five Israelis and 16 Palestinians have lost their
lives in escalating violence in the Israeli-occupied territories of the
West Bank and Gaza. So far, the 17-month-old Palestinian uprising has
claimed a heavy death toll on the Palestinian side: more than 1,000 killed.
Some 288 Israelis have died. Annan's appeal notwithstanding, the United
Nations has remained helpless in the face of increasing military attacks by
the Israelis against a spate of suicide bombings by Palestinians. A meeting
of the U.N. Security Council Tuesday, called specifically to discuss the
Middle East crisis, ended without any tangible results, although
ambassadors from 30 of the 189 U.N. member states spoke.

Faced with the threat of a U.S. veto, Arab countries held back a draft
resolution demanding "the immediate cessation of all acts of violence,
provocation and destruction, as well as the return to the positions and
arrangements which existed prior to September 2000."

Since September 2000, the Israelis have isolated the Palestinians and
barred their movement outside the occupied territories. According to the
U.N. Relief Works Agency (UNRWA), there are 72 permanent Israeli
checkpoints in the West Bank now, and nine in Gaza. The draft resolution,
which never reached the Council, emphasised that "there is no military
solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict". It also reaffirmed the need
for an "Israeli withdrawal from the territories it occupied in June 1967
and for establishing normal relations among all states of the region based
on mutual recognition and respect." This is in conformity with a recent
proposal by Saudi Arabia for collective Arab recognition of Israel in
return for Israel's withdrawal from all occupied territory, including the
West Bank, Gaza, Jerusalem and the Golan Heights, all of which were annexed
by the Israelis after the Six Day War in 1967. The resolution also called
for international involvement in the Israeli-Palestinian dispute, a
proposal strongly opposed by both Israel and the United States.

Malaysian Ambassador Hasmy Agam told the Security Council the time was ripe
for it to take decisive action to ease the growing tension in the Middle
East. "The Security Council has remained effectively sidelined over the
years, and prevented from playing a legitimate role in the search for peace
in the Middle East," he said. "The United Nations could intervene
effectively by dispatching a mission to monitor the situation, ease the
tension, and maintain peace and security on the ground."

Last year, the United States vetoed a proposal for the creation of a U.N.
monitoring force to keep the peace in the West Bank and Gaza. An Arab
diplomat told IPS: "As long as the United States continues to stand by
Israel - right or wrong - there is nothing the United Nations or even
European Union can do to resolve the conflict." Annan has called for third
party mediation, perhaps even the intervention of the 15-member European
Union (EU), but such efforts are also being resisted both by Israel and the
United States.

Meanwhile, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat has been blocked from leaving
his compound and the only airport in the occupied territories remains
closed. Earlier this month, Annan said that although Arafat is the leader
of the Palestine Authority, his isolation and his house arrest have made it
difficult for him to lead. "He's being asked to stop the violence. He's
being asked to lead and yet, as leader, he and his institutions are under
so much pressure that I really do not see how that is going to help," Annan
said.

Last week, he warned that the Israeli-Palestinian conflict risked sliding
towards a full-fledged war. "Truly, we are nearing the edge of the abyss,"
Annan said.