NEW YORK CITY: The UK’s foreign minister, Yvette Cooper, on Tuesday condemned attacks against Palestinian civilians in the occupied West Bank as “deeply, deeply wrong.”
She also told the UN Security Council, which the UK is chairing this month, that the expansion of Israeli settlements and settler violence were clear breaches of international law, and undermine the prospects for peace.
“We are witnessing an all-time high of Israeli settlement expansion and settler violence, in flagrant breach of international law,” Cooper said during a ministerial-level meeting of the council to discuss the Middle East.
“Palestinian families and communities (are) driven from their homes (and) beaten while farming their own land, attacks that sow terror among civilians. This is deeply, deeply wrong.”
Speaking in her role as president of the council for February, Cooper said efforts to secure a lasting ceasefire in Gaza remain fragile, despite some progress that includes the release of hostages and the partial restoration of humanitarian access.
There have been violations of the ceasefire agreement between Israel and Hamas on both sides, she added; Hamas continues to attack Israeli forces, and more than 600 Palestinians have reported been killed by Israeli strikes since the truce began.
“Gaza must not get stuck in a no man’s land between peace and war,” Cooper said.
She outlined four priorities in efforts to advance phase two of the Gaza peace plan that was endorsed in November by UN Security Council Resolution 2803.
Firstly, the decommissioning of Hamas’ weapons and removal of the group from any future role in governing Gaza, alongside the strengthening of Palestinian security forces, the deployment of an international stabilization presence, and an Israeli withdrawal from the territory.
Secondly, support for the National Committee for the Administration of Gaza, followed by a transition to control of the territory by a reformed Palestinian Authority. Thirdly, urgent steps to halt destabilizing actions in the West Bank, including settlement expansions and financial pressure on the Palestinian Authority.
And fourthly, a major scaling up of humanitarian aid to address the catastrophic conditions in Gaza and prevent any restrictions from blocking delivery of life-saving assistance.
Cooper reaffirmed the UK’s support for a two-state solution to the conflict between Israelis and Palestinians, and said London would host a peace-building conference in March that brings together civil society leaders from both sides. Drawing on Britain’s past experience with conflict in Northern Ireland, she said peace requires engagement beyond governments alone.
Also addressing the Security Council, the UN’s political affairs chief, Rosemary DiCarlo, described the current moment as a “pivotal” one for the Middle East, warning that the opportunity created by the Gaza ceasefire agreement was “neither assured nor indefinite.”
She called for efforts to make concrete progress toward stabilization and recovery in Gaza, including the demilitarization of the strip and the decommissioning of weapons held by Hamas and other armed groups, alongside the establishment of security arrangements to enable transitional governance.
While noting there have been improvements in the delivery of aid since the ceasefire came into effect in October, DiCarlo said most of Gaza’s population remains displaced and living in harsh conditions, with an urgent need for shelter materials, medical equipment and other basic supplies.
Meanwhile the situation in the occupied West Bank was deteriorating rapidly, she said, citing large-scale Israeli operations, mass detentions, restrictions on movement, and the repeated displacement of Palestinian families, particularly in the north.
She warned of what she called “gradual, de facto annexation” as recent actions by Israeli authorities have expanded their control over land in the territory.
“All Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, including East Jerusalem, have no legal validity,” DiCarlo said. “They violate international law and UN resolutions.”
