From the Electronic Intifada – The UN Security Council has voted by 14-0 with one abstention – the United States – to condemn Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank. The resolution passed on Friday demands that Israel “immediately and completely cease all settlement activities in the occupied Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem, and that it fully respect all of its legal obligations in this regard.” It is a clear declaration that Israel’s settlement activities are illegal, but as I explained in an analysis on Thursday, existing resolutions – that have been unenforced for decades – already do that. This resolution, like its predecessors, sets out no concrete consequences for Israel if it fails to comply. There are also key elements of the resolution – to do with the so-called two-state solution and the right of Palestinians to resist – that I argue actually erode Palestinian rights. But supporters of Palestinian rights will at least welcome the Security Council...

A major UN survey has found that up to 75,000 Palestinians remain homeless nearly two years after Israel's last devastating offensive on the blockaded Gaza Strip. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) made the findings in an unprecedented survey on Gaza's internally displaced families published Monday, warning that many families were now at breaking point. "After hearing from over 16,000 displaced families in the Gaza Strip, it is clear that most continue to live in desperate conditions," Robert Piper, UN Coordinator for Humanitarian Aid, said in a statement. "International support to end this situation is urgently needed." The survey found that more than 80 percent of the families had borrowed money over the past year to survive, with 85 percent buying food on credit, and as many as 40 percent decreasing their consumption of food. About 63 percent of the displaced Palestinians were renting living space, but nearly 50 percent ...

On Tuesday 26 January, Secretary General of the United Nations, Ban Ki-Moon, has said that “security measures alone will not stop the violence. They cannot address the profound sense of alienation and despair driving some Palestinians – especially young people.” “The full force of the law must be brought to bear on all those committing crimes – with a system of justice applied equally for Israelis and Palestinians alike. Palestinian frustration is growing under the weight of a half century of occupation and the paralysis of the peace process… Yet, as oppressed peoples have demonstrated throughout the ages, it is human nature to react to occupation, which often serves as a potent incubator of hate and extremism,” Ban said. In response, Netanyahu accused Ban of “encourage terror,” and said that “the UN had lost its neutrality and moral force a long time ago. ” “Palestinians are working against the creation of a state. [They] do not want to build a state, they want to destroy a st...

President Mahmoud Abbas told the UN General Assembly on Wednesday that the Palestinian Authority will not remain committed to agreements with Israel, referring to the Oslo Accords of 1993, while violations take place on a daily basis. Abbas told the General Assembly that Israel's refusal to commit to past agreements and release Palestinian prisoners, and continued Jewish settlement activity in the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, were destroying the possibility of a Palestinian state. "We therefore declare that we cannot continue to be bound by these agreements and that Israel must assume all of its responsibilities as an occupying power, because the status quo cannot continue and the decisions of the Palestinian Central Council last March are specific and binding." The Central Council meeting had called for an end to security coordination with Israel as long as it continued to violate signed agreements. Despite the call, security coordination with Israel has re...

The Palestinian president, Mahmoud Abbas, has circulated a hard-hitting critique of alleged Israeli violations of the 20-year-old Oslo accords and subsequent agreements ahead of his speech to the UN general assembly in New York later on Wednesday. The comprehensive matrix of claimed violations, seen by the Guardian, was compiled in July and has been shared with US and European officials, among others, and is expected to form the basis of Abbas’s speech. Covering issues from water rights, tax collections and transfer of monies, to settlement building, house demolitions and the continued Israeli military occupation which gives Israel “exclusive control of 62% of the West Bank”, the document argues that “Israel has failed to honour the accords as it has violated many of its provisions”. Western diplomats who have met Abbas recently report he feels exhausted and isolated, and say he will argue that he feels the Oslo agreements have been effectively gutted. A further flavour of what Abb...

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The PLO on Thursday asked the United Nations to allow their flag to be raised at the world body ahead of next month's meeting of heads of state. The move comes as the Palestinians seek to bolster their bid for statehood despite fierce opposition from Israel. A draft resolution was presented to the General Assembly requesting that the flags of the state of Palestine and the Holy See be hoisted alongside those of the 193 member states. The Vatican and the Palestinians both have non-member observer status at the United Nations. The resolution, co-sponsored by 21 countries including Algeria, Saudi Arabia, Egypt and Jordan, could come up for a vote before September 15. The Israeli mission to the United Nations did not respond to requests for comment. more

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon on Tuesday raised alarm over a $100 million shortfall in funding for the UN aid agency for Palestinian refugees and called for urgent donations. Ban said in a statement that the UNRWA relief agency was "a pillar of stability" for five million Palestinian refugees at a time when the Middle East is in the throes of crises and suffering. He called "on all donors to urgently ensure that the $100 million required be contributed to UNRWA at the earliest possible date so that the children of Palestine can begin their 2015-2016 school year without delay." Ban has personally spoken to several world leaders in the past weeks about the unprecedented funding crisis at UNRWA, his spokesman said. His comments were made after UNRWA warned in a report that unless funding is secured by mid-August, "the financial crisis may force the suspension of services relating to the Agency's education program." "This...

GENEVA (AFP) -- Both Israel and Palestinian militants may have committed war crimes during last year's Gaza war, a widely anticipated United Nations report said Monday, decrying "unprecedented" devastation and human suffering. The Commission of Inquiry on the 2014 Gaza conflict announced it had gathered "substantial information pointing to the possible commission of war crimes by both Israel and Palestinian armed groups." On Jan. 16 the ICC announced "a preliminary examination" into Israel's actions over a period including the Gaza war in which over 2,200 Palestinians were killed, mainly civilians. On the Israeli side 73 people were killed, 67 whom were soldiers. On April 1, the PLO acceded to the ICC with the goal of trying Israeli leaders over alleged abuses in the Gaza war and alleged crimes relating to the occupation of the West Bank and East Jerusalem. more

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- Israel has blocked a visit to the Palestinian territories by a UN rights envoy, an official said Monday, just ahead of the publication of a United Nations report on last year's Gaza war. It was the second time Makarim Wibisono, the UN's special rapporteur on human rights in the occupied Palestinian territories, had been barred entry. "We didn't allow this visit," which was to take place last week, foreign ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon told AFP. "Israel cooperates with all the international commissions and all rapporteurs, except when the mandate handed to them is anti-Israeli and Israel has no chance to make itself heard." The UN Human Rights Council, to which Wibisono reports, has been conducting an investigation into the actions of both Israel and Palestinian militants during last year's conflict. Its report is expected to be published in the coming days, and the council is scheduled to debate it on June 29. The UN...

The United Nations on Monday released a "List of Shame" of children's rights violators but did not include Israel, despite an outcry over the death of more than 500 children in the Gaza war. Rights groups had called on Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon to add Israel to the list, and there was much debate among UN agencies ahead of the final decision that rested with the UN chief. Ban decided that last year's list would remain unchanged, but said he was "deeply alarmed" by the "grave violations suffered by children as a result of Israeli military operations in 2014." "The unprecedented and unacceptable scale of the impact on children in 2014 raises grave concerns about Israel's compliance with international humanitarian law, notably the principles of distinction, proportionality and precaution in attack, and respect for international human rights law, particularly in relation to excessive use of force," he said. The UN chief cited a ...

br> From The Guardian - Israel was responsible for striking seven United Nations sites used as civilian shelters during the 2014 Gaza war in which 44 Palestinians died and 227 others were injured, an inquiry ordered by UN secretary general Ban Ki-moon has concluded. Releasing the report on Monday, Ban condemned the attacks “as a matter of the utmost gravity” and said “those who looked to them for protection and who sought and were granted shelter there had their hopes and trust denied”. Ban insisted that UN locations were “inviolable”. The issue is particularly sensitive as the locations of all UN buildings – including schools used as shelters – are routinely provided to the Israeli military and updated in times of conflict. Ban’s criticism was contained in the published summary letter of a confidential internal report, commissioned by the secretary general in November, running to 207 pages. more

The official UN death-toll for the 2014 war shows that 1,549 Palestinian civilians were killed in comparison to four Israelis, and 504 Palestinian children were killed for one Israeli child. PNN reports that, in the Gaza Strip, the seven weeks of hostilities between Palestinian armed groups and the Israeli military, during July and August 2014, resulted in an unprecedented level of loss and human suffering, which aggravated the already fragile situation that preceded the conflict. A total of 1,549 Palestinian civilians, a third of them children, were killed and around 11,000 people were injured; 13 per cent of the housing stock was damaged or destroyed, including some 20,000 homes totally destroyed or rendered uninhabitable, leaving over 100,000 people displaced; unexploded ordnance spread over Gaza pose a serious threat to the life of Palestinians and humanitarian workers; and access to already insufficient basic services has been further undermined. Four Israeli civilians were kil...

Israel should investigate the killing of more than 1,500 Palestinian civilians, one third of them children, during the war on the Gaza Strip in the summer of 2014, and should make the findings public, according to a report submitted Tuesday to the United Nations Human Rights Council. The report was issued by Makarim Wibisono who has recently become UN Human Rights Council special rapporteur on human rights in the Palestinian territory. It was his first report since he replaced Richard Falk. In his report, Wibisono, a former Indonesian ambassador, said that 2,256 Palestinians were killed during the military confrontation in the Gaza Strip in July and August 2014 of whom 1,563 were civilians including 538 children. Israel, he added, says its army launched a military offensive in response to rockets fired from the Hamas-run coastal enclave at Israeli towns bordering the area. Sixty-six Israeli soldiers and five civilians were killed. "The stark disparity in casualty figures on th...

RAMALLAH (AFP) -- A top UN official warned Thursday of another potential conflict in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to lift its blockade and Palestinian political parties to end in-fighting to avoid further violence. The United Nations also called for an additional $705 million in humanitarian aid to the Palestinian territories, most of it for Gaza which saw its bloodiest and most destructive war last year. "Right now, things are not going well, and we're very concerned about the possibility of a further conflict," James Rawley, UN humanitarian chief for the Palestinian territories, told AFP. "But it's not inevitable... as long as several things happen. "To have a complete recovery of Gaza, even to go back to where we were in July (before the 50-day conflict) requires more than construction material going in. It requires a lifting of the blockade," said Rawley. "In parallel, we have to see a commitment from the militant groups in Gaza to stop ...

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) -- The leaders of the United Nations and the Arab League made an urgent appeal to international donors Friday to expedite aid promised to the people of Gaza, following last year's devastating war. In a joint statement, Ban Ki-moon and Nabil al-Arabi expressed their "deep concern" over limited resources to improve the situation in Gaza. They "urgently appeal to donors to honor and disburse as soon as possible their financial commitments made at the October 2014 Cairo Conference," the statement said. Those funds include money for UN agencies in Gaza to "prevent a further deterioration in the already dire humanitarian situation." The international community promised $5.4 billion to the Palestinians, half of which is to help rebuild Gaza after devastating Israeli bombing in July and August last year. The Israeli assault killed around 2,200 people and left nearly 110,000 homeless, with more than 11,000 more left injured. more

Around $12 million of aid donations will be distributed to Palestinians displaced by Israel's military offensive on the Gaza Strip last summer, a Palestinian official said Thursday. Minister of Public works Mufeid al-Hasanyneh said that the United Nations Development Programme will distribute $6 million in $300 payments to those affected by the conflict. Another $6 million will be distributed to Palestinians whose homes were destroyed. Rent payments will be covered for a further four months for those who had already been receiving support, while rent for those yet to have received money will be covered for eight months. The minister said he expects the money to be available early next week. more

GAZA CITY (AFP) -- The UN agency for Palestinian refugees said on Tuesday that it cannot afford to repair Gaza homes damaged in last year's war with Israel because donors have failed to pay. "The agency has exhausted all funding to support repairs and rental subsidies," the United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said in a statement. "$5.4 billion was pledged at the Cairo (aid) conference last October and virtually none of it has reached Gaza. This is distressing and unacceptable. "It is unclear why this funding has not been forthcoming," it added. UNRWA said that the homes of more than 96,000 Palestine refugees were destroyed or damaged during the conflict. They made up the vast majority of the more than 100,000 homes that were hit during the 50-day conflict between Israel and Hamas. UNRWA said: "Some funds remain available to begin the reconstruction of totally destroyed homes." But it added that cutting subsidies to displaced re...

JERUSALEM (AFP) -- The United Nations has accused Israel of illegally demolishing the homes of 77 Palestinians, mostly children, this week in occupied East Jerusalem and the occupied West Bank. "In the past three days, 77 Palestinians, over half of them children, have been made homeless," the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement issued Friday evening. "Some of the demolished structures were provided by the international community to support vulnerable families. "Demolitions that result in forced evictions and displacement run counter to Israel's obligations under international law and create unnecessary suffering and tension. They must stop immediately," said OCHA. The demolitions took place in East Jerusalem and the districts of Ramallah, Jericho, and Hebron, it added. OCHA said that during 2014 Israel carried out a record number of demolitions in east Jerusalem and a zone of the West Bank under full Israeli cont...

A United Nations programme to rebuild Gaza and give aid and shelter to more than 100,000 Gazans made homeless by the 50-day summer war will be suspended at the end of January because world donors have reneged on promises to pay. After the war, known as Operation Protective Edge in Israel, world donors, meeting in Cairo in October, pledged $5.4 billion to reconstruct the bombed-out Strip but only a small proportion has been paid. A sum of $720 million was set aside for UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency, for rebuilding the homes of Gaza’s refugees, who make up more than two thirds of the population. To date the UNRWA program is $580 million short. more

Transcript of interview with Richard Falk (Thanks to The Electronic Intifada) Nora Barrows-Friedman: Let’s begin by talking about Gaza — reconstruction has still yet to begin, tens of thousands of people are sheltering as best they can through these harsh winter months, and infrastructure is still in need of basic reconstruction as well. During Operation Cast Lead in 2008-09, you called Israel’s sealing of the exit points around Gaza “a new kind of war crime,” as people were unable to flee the violence meted out by Israel, and it was repeated again over the summer. Give us your assessment, from your perspective as a longtime scholar and analyst on Palestine, to what we saw over the summer and what we see now. Richard Falk: Well, I think what we see now is a humanitarian emergency of the highest order, which is worse than normal humanitarian emergencies because it comes after this catastrophic attack of the summer, which I regard as a form of massive state terror directed at the e...