Secretary-General Javier Perez de Cuellar issued a report Thursday criticizing of Israel’s handling of the Oct. 8 riot on the Temple Mount, and suggesting that the Security Council convene a meeting of signatories to the Fourth Geneva Convention to discuss possible measures to protect the Palestinians living in the administered territories.
Referring to recent outbreaks of violence, Perez de Cuellar said the issue was what possible steps could be taken by the international community to ensure the safety of the Palestinians.
“Clearly, the numerous appeals … to the Israeli authorities to abide by their obligations under the Fourth Geneva Convention have been ineffective,” he wrote in his report.
The convention, whose applicability to the administered territories — including East Jerusalem — has been affirmed in previous Security Council resolutions, “entitles the civilian population” in the territories “to safety and protection,” Perez de Cuellar said.
But Perez de Cuellar also said it was “evident that for any measure of protection to be ensured, the cooperation of the Israeli authorities is, under the present circumstances, absolutely essential.”
Israel, although a signatory to the convention, does not accept the legal applicability of the convention, and it considers Jerusalem to be its undivided sovereign capital.
In a statement issued late Thursday, Israel’s U.N. mission said the status of the areas of “Judea and Samaria (the West Bank) and Gaza is not clear under international law and the Geneva convention regarding occupied territory does not legally apply.”
Stating its intent to act “de facto in accordance with the humanitarian provisions of that Convention,” Israel’s position on not allowing other parties “to review or intervene” in its responsibility was emphasized.
The secretary-general’s report was issued in response to an Oct 12 Security Council resolution calling for a U.N. mission to investigate the Temple Mount shooting. Israel refused to receive the mission and offered instead its own investigation, which last week laid blame on the Palestinians for inciting the rioting.
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