UNITED NATIONS, June 13: The United Nations urged Israel on Friday to end targeted killings of Palestinian militants and to stop work on the wall separating its territory from the West Bank — tactics it saw as undermining the Middle East roadmap.
UN Undersecretary-General Kieran Prendergast delivered the appeals in remarks to the Security Council as Israel pledged a “war to the bitter end” against Hamas.
Separately, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan told an Israeli newspaper he thought dispatching an armed peacekeeping force to the Middle East would help calm the troubled region.
The idea, first put forward by Mr Annan more than three years ago, was again embraced by the Palestinians and rejected by Israel.
Mr Prendergast told the Security Council the prospects for progress toward peace were now “tenuous,” although still alive.
He said Israel should immediately stop targeting militants for assassination and “stop using excessive and disproportionate force in civilian areas, which has caused the death and injury of so many Palestinian civilians.”
The UN official said Palestinians must meet their obligations under the road map to end attacks on Israelis.
Concerning the security wall Israel is building to separate its territory from the West Bank, Prendergast said it would isolate thousands of Palestinians and could jeopardize future negotiations on the shape of an eventual Palestinian state.
PEACEKEEPING FORCE: In an interview with Haaretz, Annan said Israelis and Palestinians “are going to need help from a third party, and given the environment on the ground, I think it is eventually going to take a force”.
Palestinian United Nations envoy Nasser al-Kidwa said the idea of armed international observers was gaining support “and we hope at some point this would be something to implement.”
But Israeli Deputy Ambassador Arye Mekel told reporters the only way to move the peace process forward was for Israelis and Palestinians “to talk to each other.”
“We certainly do not need any foreign forces there of any nature. This is not a good idea,” Mekel said.
US AGAINST SENDING FORCES: The United States will not send forces to supervise the implementation of the Middle East roadmap, the White House said on Friday.
Amid new violence from Palestinian extremist groups and reprisal attacks by Israeli forces, White House spokesman Ari Fleischer said: “The parties themselves, working with the Arab nations, have to find a way to cooperate to fight terror, without putting American forces in an area where they will become targets.”
Mr Bush, vacationing here at his father’s seaside compound, discussed the Middle East by telephone with his national security adviser, Condoleezza Rice, and gets regular briefings, the spokesman said.
“The roadmap calls for the dismantling of terrorism. The PA (Palestinian Authority) has agreed to the roadmap,” Mr Fleischer said, referring to the US-backed guide to peace between Israelis and Palestinians.—Reuters/AFP