Foreign Desk Report
NEW YORK: UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres expressed his deep concern over Israel’s decision to advance plans for some 800 settlement units, most of which are located deep inside the occupied West Bank. Guterres reiterated that Israel’s establishment of settlements in the Palestinian territory occupied since 1967, including East Jerusalem, has no legal validity and constitutes a flagrant violation of international law, said Guterres’ spokesperson Stephane Dujarric in a statement.
Settlement expansion increases the risk of confrontation, further undermines the right of the Palestinian people to self-determination, and further erodes the possibility of ending the occupation and establishing a contiguous and viable sovereign Palestinian state, based on the pre-1967 lines, said the statement.
The secretary-general urged the government of Israel to halt and reverse such decisions, which are a major obstacle to the achievement of the two-state solution, and a just, lasting and comprehensive peace, it added. On the other hand, The United Nations (UN) continues to worry about the consequences of the U.S. designation of Houthi rebels in Yemen as a terrorist organization, said a spokesman on Monday.
“In Yemen, the UN continues to be deeply concerned that the U.S. Foreign Terrorist Organization designation of the Houthis will push Yemen into a large-scale famine. Given the dangerous situation right now with the risk of famine, the policy should be reversed,” said Stephane Dujarric, spokesman for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres.
Details on planned licenses for aid agencies have not been published yet, although the designation is to take force on Tuesday. Given this uncertainty, the UN is expecting major disruptions to the world’s largest aid operation just as famine starts to take hold in the country, he said. Even if licenses come through for aid agencies, these will not address the main problem, which relates to commercial imports, he said.
Nearly all of Yemen’s food, medicine, fuel and everything else is brought in by commercial importers. The long-standing UN Security Council position is that commercial imports to Yemen must be protected and must continue to flow through all ports in the country, he noted.
The United Nations will also have to review the potential consequences of the U.S. designation for the Safer tanker mission, he said, referring to the planned UN mission to inspect and repair the derelict oil tanker moored at a seaport controlled by the Houthi.
The world organization has been saying for months that the floating oil storage vessel was in imminent danger of leaking some or all of the more than 1 million barrels of oil on board.
Dujarric expressed the hope that the U.S. decision will be reversed as soon as possible, given that President-elect Joe Biden will be sworn in on Wednesday.In relation to the same issue Britain on Monday expressed serious concern over Israeli plans to expand illgegal Jewish settlements in the West Bank, saying the construction of 780 new homes could threaten future peace negotiations.
The government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday directed authorities to approve construction of the new settler homes in the occupied territory, Israeli civil society group Peace Now said.
