An escalating crisis

Once again, we experience the flare-up of violence in the Middle East following the abduction of several Israeli soldiers. The deteriorating conflict between Israel, Palestine and Lebanon has resulted in an escalating deadlock, which led to interference by the UN Security Council (SC).

As an immediate response SG Kofi Annan dispatched a three-person team to the Middle East led by his Special Political Adviser, Vijay Nambiar, including UN envoy to the Middle East Alvaro de Soto and Special Envoy Terje Roed-Larsen, to help defuse the major crisis in the region. The SC has welcomed this step and urged all parties to fully cooperate with the UN top advisers.

Convening yesterday, the SC failed to adopt a draft resolution calling for the immediate and unconditional release of the Israeli soldier abducted by Palestinian armed groups from Gaza and for a halt to what it called a “disproportionate” military reaction by Israel, due to a veto by the United States, which called the text "unbalanced and outdated".
The draft would have also called on the international community to provide emergency assistance to the Palestinian people to help alleviate the dire humanitarian situation, and on the Israeli Government to restore and maintain the continuous and uninterrupted supply of fuel to Gaza, and to “act expeditiously” to replace destroyed equipment at the power plant.

Urgent relief is needed as the situation looms to convert from a social to a humanitarian crisis. A total collapse of all services to the Palestinians in Gaza will not be prevented unless humanitarian needs will be met by the international community. Sadly enough, only 31 per cent out of the UN’s revised appeal launched last month for $385 million for humanitarian needs in the occupied territories had materialized so far.
If the international community fails to address the issue appropriately, a downward spiral to a totally uncontrollable situation will be the consequence.

Ozlem