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UNSC condemns massive killing in Gaza, urges independent probe

Xinhua | Updated: 2018-05-16 09:14
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INVESTIGATION

Karen Pierce, British ambassador to the United Nations, said that "the death toll alone warranted such an inquiry, which should be made public and hold perpetrators to account."

An "independent and transparent investigation" was necessary, including on Israel's use of live fire in such situations and attacks on that country's defense forces.

Riyad Mansour, permanent observer of the State of Palestine to the United Nations, pointed out that employing such force against civilians could be defined as terrorism.

Rejecting the idea that Palestinians were responsible for their own deaths because they were protesting Israel's actions, he called for a full investigation and questioned why one state had blocked other Council members from demanding independent inquiries into what amounted to a war crime against the Palestinian people.

The United States blocked a Security Council statement drafted Monday that called for an independent investigation into the situation.

Delegates widely condemned the fighting, with Kuwaiti ambassador Mansour Ayyad Al-Otaibi expressing regret that the Council had failed to adopt his delegation's Monday draft resolution.

Kuwait would take action in the UN General Assembly to ensure the perpetrators of the killings were held to account. He also called for measures that would offer international protection to the Palestinian people.

TWO-STATE SOLUTION

On the status of Jerusalem, Pierce said it should only be determined through a settlement negotiated by both parties, with the city being "a shared capital of Israel and Palestine."

A political process must now deliver a solution, especially since the situation in Gaza was deteriorating rapidly, she said, asking Mladenov to advance proposals for easing the situation in Gaza, including international support for infrastructure and other needed services.

Joanna Wronecka, permanent representative of Poland to the United Nations, reiterated Poland's commitment to a two-state solution, adding that the future capital of both states must materialize through negotiations.

The status of Jerusalem should assume mutual recognition of historical relations, she said, adding that her country would continue to respect the international consensus on Jerusalem as embodied in resolution 478 (1980) until the city's final status was resolved.

Other delegates defended the two-state formula as the only viable way forward, with Ethiopia's representative underlining that all arguments to the contrary were unrealistic. Ways and means must be found to save the two-state formula premised on dependable security for Israel and the realization of Palestinian national aspirations, he said.

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