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STORY: UN / MIDDLE EAST
TRT:2:39
SOURCE: UNIFEED
RESTRICTIONS: NONE
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH / NATS
DATELINE: 21 JULY 2020, NEW YORK CITY / FILE
RECENT - FILE - NEW YORK CITY
1.Wide shot, exterior, United Nations Headquarters
21 JULY 2020, NEW YORK CITY
2.Wide shot, screen with delegates
3.SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
"The unfolding dynamics have shed a stark light on the daily reality of the conflict and the imperative to resolve it through negotiations between the parties. They have further exposed the unsustainability of the occupation and the needs to update agreements that define the relationship between the two sides in the interest of peace."
4.Wide shot, screen with delegates
5.SOUNDBITE (English) Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process:
"The Secretary-General and the UN will continue efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders, with no preconditions, and in the interest of peace and a negotiated resolution to the conflict. For these efforts to stand a chance of success, there must be political will from all parties. Otherwise, the path to a negotiated solution risks quickly becoming unnavigable, moving instead towards a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict."
6.Wide shot, screen with delegates
7. SOUNDBITE (English) Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
"As the entire world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, the Middle East must also deal with increasing threats to stability in the region. The coming months present the international community with three opportunities to prove that it is committed to promoting peace and security in the Middle East. The Arms embargo against Iran must be renewed. UNIFIL must be granted the tools to discharge its mandate. And the spirit of President Trump's peace initiative must be embraced so a realistic and just peace can be reached."
8. Wide shot, Wide shot, screen with delegates
9.SOUNDBITE (English) Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations:
"Israeli may abandon declaring de jure annexation, but it will not abandon its annexation plans and its entrenchment of a 53-year occupation. They are being implemented as we speak; one military order at a time, one demolished home at a time, one confiscated parcel of land at a time, one Palestinian family displaced at a time, one settlement unit at a time. The Prime Minister, the solider, the settler, the bureaucrat, the parliamentarian, the judge in the military court; they all conspire towards the objective that Israel has pursued obsessively, grabbing maximum Palestinian geography with minimum Palestinian demography."
10. Wide shot, screen with delegates
UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Nickolay Mladenov said the unfolding dynamics of the Israeli- Palestinian conflict have “further exposed the unsustainability of the occupation and the need to update agreements that define the relationship between the two sides in the interest of peace.”
Briefing a virtual meeting of the Security Council today (21 Jul), Mladenov said, in recent weeks, the region and the broader international community have continued to express their firm rejection of annexation. He reiterated the Secretary-General's call on the Israeli Government to abandon plans to annex parts of the occupied West Bank.
Mladenov also added that the Secretary-General and the UN “will continue efforts to resuscitate a dialogue among all stakeholders, with no preconditions, and in the interest of peace and a negotiated resolution to the conflict.” He said, “For these efforts to stand a chance of success, there must be political will from all parties. Otherwise, the path to a negotiated solution risks quickly becoming unnavigable, moving instead towards a one-state reality of perpetual occupation and conflict.”
Regrettably, the Special Coordinator said, the situation on the ground is rapidly being impacted by the dramatic increase in COVID-19 cases in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and in Israel. The challenges of confronting the rapid increase in cases in the West Bank and boosting prevention efforts in Gaza has been significantly compounded by the ending of coordination between the Palestinian Authority and Israel, Mladenov told Council members.
In response, he noted, the United Nations has engaged with all sides to ensure the continued and unimpeded provision of humanitarian assistance. The Special Coordinator warned that the ferocity of the virus and its devastating human and economic toll demand extraordinary measures – measures that must rise above politics-as-usual. He reiterated the Secretary-General’s call to the members of the Middle East Quartet, the Arab countries, the Israeli and Palestinian leadership to urgently re-engage.
Israeli ambassador Noa Furman said Iran continues to be a destabilizing force in the region and systematically violates the Security Council imposed arms embargo. She said the Iranian threat to the Middle East is not limited to its actions but is also transpires through its proxies in the region, which it arms and trains.
Furman said the situation in Lebanon is dire as the country faces an economic crisis and increasing COVID-19 cases, but Hizbullah continues to put Iranian interests over Lebanese. She said the group was building an arsenal of missiles, aided by advanced technologies and components transferred by Iran to manufacture and convert missiles and rockets to have increased range, accuracy, and sophistication. She said Hizbuallah’s arms build up must be rejected by anyone who wants to avoid a conflict in the region, adding that it poses a grave threat to Israel and its security. The Israeli ambassador added that Hizbullah was undermining the UN peacekeeping mission (UNIFIL), by denying it access to significant parts of south Lebanon under the pretext of private properties, attacking UNIFIL to intimidate it, and preforms acts of aggression against Israel in UNIFIL’s area of operation.
Furman said Israel is committed to advancing US President Donald Trump’s peace plan while maintain its current peace agreements with its neighbours, Jordan and Egypt. She called on the Palestinians to stop rejecting opportunities for peace and come to the negotiating table. She said the Trump peace initiative is a real opportunity to bring peace to the Middle East, with a realist outlook and a pragmatic approach to end the conflict.
SOUNDBITE (English) Noa Furman, Deputy Permanent Representative of Israel to the United Nations:
"As the entire world navigates the COVID-19 pandemic, the Middle East must also deal with increasing threats to stability in the region. The coming months present the international community with three opportunities to prove that it is committed to promoting peace and security in the Middle East. The Arms embargo against Iran must be renewed. UNIFIL must be granted the tools to discharge its mandate. And the spirit of President Trump's peace initiative must be embraced so a realistic and just peace can be reached."
Palestinian ambassador Feda Abdelhady-Nasser said, in times of war and peace, Israel entrenched its control over Palestinian land and Palestinian lives. She said regardless of Palestinian actions, Israel remained on course, and impunity for its actions guaranteed that the benefits of occupation outweighed the costs. She added that 40 years after its illegal annexation of Jerusalem, Israel continues to launch a full-fledged war against Palestinian presence in the city.
Abdelhady-Nasser said the firm positions expressed by many governments, including many members of the Security Council, and international and region organizations, among others, against Israel’s annexation plans demonstrated the firm commitment of the international community to justice, international law and human rights. She stressed that stopping annexation is a critical battle that must be won, but the war Israel has been waging for decades should not be forgotten.
SOUNDBITE (English) Feda Abdelhady-Nasser, Deputy Permanent Observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations:
"Israeli may abandon declaring de jure annexation, but it will not abandon its annexation plans and its entrenchment of a 53-year occupation. They are being implemented as we speak; one military order at a time, one demolished home at a time, one confiscated parcel of land at a time, one Palestinian family displaced at a time, one settlement unit at a time. The Prime Minister, the solider, the settler, the bureaucrat, the parliamentarian, the judge in the military court; they all conspire towards the objective that Israel has pursued obsessively, grabbing maximum Palestinian geography with minimum Palestinian demography."
The Palestinian ambassador stated that the world cannot unsee what Israel has revealed. She said Israel had no intention to end its 53-year occupation and make peace. Abdelhady-Nasser said Israel wants it illegal occupation to be considered a reality and stressed that the Palestinian march to freedom was irreversible.
