UN envoy expresses concern about violence escalation in Middle East

UNITED NATIONS, Dec. 8 (Xinhua) -- The UN envoy for the Middle East peace process on Friday told the Security Council that he was concerned about violence escalation in the region after U.S. President Donald Trump said the United States formally recognized Jerusalem as Israel's capital.

The UN special coordinator for the Middle East peace process, Nickolay Mladenov, told an emergency session of the Security Council on Jerusalem that clashes in the West Bank, Gaza and Jerusalem were unfolding after Trump's announcement.

Mladenov urged political, religious and community leaders to refrain from rhetoric that might encourage further escalation. "It will be ordinary Israelis and Palestinians who will have to live with the violence," he said via video conference.

"There is a serious risk today that we may see a chain of unilateral actions, which can only push us further away from achieving our shared goal of peace," Mladenov said.

Mladenov noted that "of all the final status issues in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict as identified in the Oslo Accords -- refugees, settlements, security, borders, etc -- the status of Jerusalem is perhaps the most emotionally charged and difficult issue."

He said that it's up to Israeli and Palestinian leaders, with the international community's support, to reach an agreement that would end the occupation.

"There is no plan B for the two state-solution," he said, with Jerusalem as the capital of Israel and the Palestinians.

The special session of the Security Council was held at the request of eight Council member states: Britain, France, Egypt, Italy, Sweden, Uruguay, Bolivia and Senegal.

UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that he was "against any unilateral measures that would jeopardize the prospect of peace for Israelis and Palestinians." Enditem