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Israeli-Palestinian violence "closer to catastrophe", warns UN rights chief

Xinhua, October 29, 2015 Adjust font size:

UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra'ad al-Hussein warned on Wednesday that the violence between Palestinians and Israelis is "closer to a catastrophe" if not stopped immediately."

"The High Commissioner said that this crisis is dangerous in the extreme because it is a confrontation drawn in part from that most combustible of human emotional mechanisms: fear," said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric Wednesday at a daily briefing.

"Fear must be eclipsed by wisdom," the High Commissioner urged, adding that "the Middle East peace process must now be reactivated with an unprecedented sense of purpose."

According to the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the latest wave of violence resulted in 58 Palestinian deaths, and 2,100 injuries, as well as 11 Israeli deaths, with 127 injuries.

In Geneva on Wednesday, the High Commissioner met with Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas at the Human Rights Council, which is based in Switzerland.

"No matter what the grievances on both sides, violence cannot be the answer," said the High Commissioner.

The High Commissioner further stated that a "catastrophe" becomes more likely because of the "supremely sensitive issue" of the status quo with respect to occupied East Jerusalem, and specifically the site that is known to Muslims as the Al Aqsa compound or the Haram Al Sharif, and to Jews as the Temple Mount, according to the UN spokesman.

In his remarks, President Abbas said the current situation calls for "strong and decisive intervention and requires that the United Nations, its member states and its agencies shoulder their responsibility "before it is too late."

According to Abbas, peace and stability would not be achieved unless the Israeli occupation is ended and an independent Palestinian state is obtained.

Reaffirming the important role of the Human Rights Council and the necessity of Israel abiding by its resolutions and wider international law, Abbas also underlined what he called "the principal role" assumed by High Commissioner Zeid the work of the various experts and special procedures looking into human rights violations in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Enditem