UN / PALESTINE

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov told the Security Council that nearly two months since the Middle East Quartet offered recommendations to enable a return to negotiations, these “continue however to be ignored, including by a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions.” UNIFEED-UNTV

• Categories: News & Features / News Stories / Unifeed
• Video Length: 00:02:33
• Production Date: 29 August 2016
• Asset Language: English
• Personal Subject: NICKOLAY MLADENOV
• Corporate Name: SECURITY COUNCIL
• Subject Topical: DISPUTE SETTLEMENT; OCCUPATIONS; PEACE AND SECURITY; SETTLEMENT PLANNING
• Geographic Subject: PALESTINE
• MAMS Id: 1698486
• Parent Id: 1698486
• Alternate Title: unifeed160829a

Description

STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST
TRT: 02:33
SOURCE: UNIFEED - UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS

DATELINE: 29 AUGUST 2016, NEW YORK CITY / FILE

Shotlist

FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY

1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters

26 JANUARY 2016, NEW YORK CITY

2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“It has been nearly two months since the Middle East Quartet outlined clearly of the threats to the two-state solution and offered practical recommendations to enable an eventual return to meaningful negotiations to end the occupation that begun in 1967. Its recommendations continue however to be ignored, including by a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“Let me be clear: no legal acrobatics can change the fact that all outposts; whether legalized under Israeli law or not, whether located on state land, or absentee land, or private Palestinian land, just like all settlements in Area C and East Jerusalem, remain illegal under international law. It is difficult to read in these actions a genuine intention to work towards a viable two-state solution.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
“While Gaza remains locked away from the rest of the world, in the grip of militants, and dependent on aid and humanitarian assistance, the status quo will sadly prevail. We need a radical overhaul of how we deal with the problems of Gaza. Until the closures are lifted, the militant buildup has ceased, and Gaza is back under the control of the legitimate Palestinian authorities, international funding and an interrupted flow of aid are a lifeline to over one million Palestinians in the Strip, who are struggling to survive with a dire humanitarian situation.”
9. Wide shot, Council
10. Wide shot, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad Mansour walks up to the podium
11. SOUNDBITE (English) Riyad H. Mansour, Permanent Observer of Palestine to the United Nations:
“We call upon the Security Council once again, and the Quartet, and the international community as a whole, that if your position is that settlements is illegal and a major obstacle in the path of peace, than therefore it is your duty to tell us what are the practical steps that you are going to undertake in order to bring Israel into compliance with its obligation under international law an also under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.”
12. Pan right, Mansour walks away

Storyline

The Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Nickolay Mladenov, today (29 Aug) told the Security Council that nearly two months since the Middle East Quartet offered recommendations to enable a return to negotiations, these “continue however to be ignored, including by a surge in Israeli settlement-related announcements and continuing demolitions.”

Mladenov said “no legal acrobatics can change the fact that all outposts; whether legalized under Israeli law or not, whether located on state land, or absentee land, or private Palestinian land, just like all settlements in Area C and East Jerusalem, remain illegal under international law.”

The Special Coordinator added that it was “difficult to read in these actions a genuine intention to work towards a viable two-state solution.”

On Gaza, Mladenov said that while it remains “locked away from the rest of the world, in the grip of militants, and dependent on aid and humanitarian assistance, the status quo will sadly prevail.”

He said that “until the closures are lifted, the militant buildup has ceased, and Gaza is back under the control of the legitimate Palestinian authorities, international funding and an interrupted flow of aid are a lifeline to over one million Palestinians in the Strip, who are struggling to survive with a dire humanitarian situation.”

Speaking to reporters outside the Council, Palestinian Ambassador Riyad H. Mansour called upon the Security Council, the Quartet, and the international community as a whole, “that if your position is that settlements is illegal and a major obstacle in the path of peace, than therefore it is your duty to tell us what are the practical steps that you are going to undertake in order to bring Israel into compliance with its obligation under international law an also under the provisions of the Charter of the United Nations.”

On Saturday, marking the second anniversary of the 2014 ceasefire which ended the most devastating round of hostilities in Gaza, heads of United Nations agencies there have called for a greater flow of material and funding to address humanitarian needs and boost economic prospects for Gaza's 1.9 million residents.

The fighting left at least 1,400 Palestinian and six Israelis civilians dead. Another 11,200 Palestinians were injured and an estimated 100,000 people rendered homeless. Children and women accounted for over 60 per cent of all fatalities and injuries in Gaza.