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UN / MIDDLE EAST
STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST
TRT: 2.05
SOURCE: UNTV
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 17 AUGUST 2010, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
FILE – RECENT, NEW YORK CITY
1. Wide shot, exterior United Nations headquarters
17 DECEMBER 2009, NEW YORK CITY
2. Wide shot, Security Council
3. Med shot, delegates
4. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs:
“The parties are currently holding internal discussions with a view to deciding on weather they will enter into direct talks. We urge them to be forthcoming in their deliberations and are hopeful that leaders on both sides will seize this opportunity and engage in a path of decisive progress towards a sustainable, mutually acceptable two-state solution, within a realistic timeframe.”
5. Med shot, delegates
6. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs:
“The Israeli decision to allow 100 million New Israeli Shekels in cash into Gaza, as well as the exchange of 31.5 million worth of spoiled New Israeli Shekel bank notes since mud-July is an important step in alleviating the immediate liquidity crisis in Gaza, and is welcome. Further steps and regularized banking arrangements will be critical to meet cash needs and salary payments.”
7. Med shot, delegates
8. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs:
“UNRWA warned on 16 August that it is running an 84 million US dollar deficit that could soon force it to shut schools and clinics in the Gaza Strip. I call on the international community to help UNRWA fulfill its important mission in health, education and social services in Gaza and elsewhere in the region.”
9. Med shot, delegates
10. SOUNDBITE (English) Oscar Fernandez-Taranco, Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs:
“The Panel will receive and review reports of national investigations into the incident, and request such clarifications and information as it may require from relevant national authorities. For the conduct of its work, the Panel will decide what steps it will take and will work with the national authorities. It is not designed to determine individual criminal responsibility.”
11. Zoom out, Security Council
Efforts to promote direct negotiations between Israelis and Palestinians are nearing a turning point, a senior United Nations official said today (17 August), underlining that success hinges on continued regional and international support.
Assistant Secretary-General for Political Affairs Oscar Fernandez-Taranco urged the parties “to be forthcoming in their deliberations” and expressed hope that “both sides will seize the opportunity and engage in a path of decisive progress towards a sustainable, mutually-acceptable two-State solution, within a realistic timeframe."
Since May, seven rounds of proximity, or indirect, talks have been held between the two sides to identify areas of mutual agreement. Currently, the parties are holding internal discussions on whether to enter direct talks.
Fernandez-Taranco welcomed last month’s decision by the foreign ministers of the Arab League to give its backing, in principle, to the President of the Palestinian National Authority, Mahmoud Abbas, to enter into direct negotiations when he deems it appropriate.
Following the announcement by Israel in late June that it would ease the blockade against Gaza, the volume and variety of supplies entering Gaza has continued to increase, up nearly 30 per cent from the last reporting period.
The Assistant Secretary-General welcomed the Israeli decision to allow 100 million New Israeli Shekels in cash into Gaza, as well as the exchange of 31.5 million worth of spoiled New Israeli Shekel bank notes since mid-July as “an important step in alleviating the immediate liquidity crisis in Gaza”, and noted that “further steps and regularized banking arrangements will be critical to meet cash needs and salary payments.”
Although Israel recently approved 11 UN construction projects in Gaza, a move welcomed by the world body, he voiced concern over bottlenecks in carrying out these projects.
Fernandez-Taranco also expressed concern over the $84 million deficit that the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) faces, which could soon force it to close schools and clinics in Gaza. He called on the international community “to help UNRWA fulfil its important mission in health, education and social services in Gaza and elsewhere in the region”.
UNRWA assists, protects and advocates for some 4.7 million registered refugees in Jordan, Lebanon, Syria and the occupied Palestinian territory, and is funded almost entirely by voluntary contributions from UN member states.
The official told the Council of the announcement by Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon earlier this month of the launch of the Panel of Inquiry on the Gaza flotilla incident of 31 May.
He said that the body will “receive and review reports of national investigations into the incident, and request such clarifications and information as it may require from relevant national authorities” and “is not designed to determine individual criminal responsibility “.
The Panel – chaired by the former prime ministers of New Zealand and Colombia, Geoffrey Palmer and Alvaro Uribe, and also comprising Joseph Ciechanover of Israel and Özdem Sanberk of Turkey – met last week and will strive to produce an interim report for the Secretary-General on 15 September.
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