POLITICS: U.N. Head Proposes Multinational Force for West Bank

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 12 2002 (IPS) - U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan called Friday for the creation of a multinational peacekeeping force to end escalating violence between Israelis and Palestinians.

The force would be deployed in the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem. It would stabilise the situation and provide space for negotiations, he said.

Annan criticised the Israeli armed forces for Thursday’s attacks on civilians in the West Bank refugee camp of Jenin, where an estimated 100-200 Palestinians were killed.

Ambassador Nasser al-Kidwa, permanent observer of Palestine to the United Nations, told reporters Friday the Jenin killings warranted a war crimes tribunal to try Israeli military officers.

“I will still urge Israel to withdraw immediately, which the Security Council has requested,” Annan told reporters Friday. But, he added, the situation has so deteriorated that a peacekeeping force is the only means to end the bloodshed.

“Respect for international humanitarian law and humanitarian organisations is the most basic requirement of any nation that lays claim to democracy and membership of the international community,” he said. “The international community demands that the government of Israel honour its obligations under international law to protect civilians and that the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) stop the damage and destruction of civilian and personal property,” he added.

U.N. spokesperson Fred Eckhard said Annan had concluded the dire situation on the ground demands such bold statements. “The United Nations cannot remain neutral to the carnage that is taking place,” Eckhard added.

He said it was up to the 15-member U.N. Security Council to take up Annan’s proposal. The Council will be holding closed-door sessions, perhaps even over the weekend, to discuss the proposal.

“It will not be a U.N. force, it will be a multinational force”, Eckhard said, adding that the troops could be assembled and deployed much faster than a U.N. peacekeepers, who could take several weeks or months to deploy.

The force would have to be strong enough to render ineffective any challenge to its authority, he said, adding: “An observer force will not be up to the task because of the deteriorating situation.”

“We hope the Security Council will heed the proposal,” said al-Kidwa.

The United States and Israel opposed last year proposals for an observer force. The United States, which has veto power in the Security Council, has said it will not support any proposal for a peacekeeping force unless the two parties to the conflict agree on it.

Israeli Ambassador Aaron Jacob said his country’s government would study the latest proposal and added: “Such a force will not help without the political will of the Palestinians to renounce terrorism”.

Annan said some 12,000 U.N. workers remain under siege in the occupied territories.

Last week, U.N. Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) chief Peter Hansen expressed outrage over the spreading humanitarian crisis in the West Bank and Gaza.

“I think it is particularly appalling that religious observances in connection with death and burial have been grossly violated”, he said Some 185 ambulances belonging to UNRWA, the Red Crescent and the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) have been hit by Israeli fire, he added.

“These are not the result of stray bullets by mistake, they can only be by targeting ambulances,” Hansen charged. “We also have more than 350 cases of ambulances denied access to rescue.”

The ICRC, Red Crescent, and Doctors Without Borders have criticised Israeli military attacks on ambulances, civilian infrastructure, and refugee camps.

Al-Kidwa said that U.S. officials have condemned Palestinian violence but not the killings of Palestinian civilians.

“We do not accept that a Palestinian life is inferior to an Israeli life,” he said. “We haven’t heard any condemnation of the massacre and executions of Palestinians by Israeli armed forces.”