The UAE Calls For A UN Security Council Meeting To Discuss Increased Violence In The West Bank

Israeli military in the West Bank. (Wikimedia Commons/IDF Spokesperson's Unit)

JAKARTA - The United Arab Emirates (UAE) called for a meeting urging the UN Security Council to address the deteriorating situation in the West Bank, as Israel continues its military operations in Gaza.

The request, delivered through a spokesman for the UAE representative for the United Nations Shahad Matar, stressed the critical nature of developments in the West Bank, as well as its potential impact on the two-state solution between Israel and Palestine.

The region is experiencing an increase in "violence of extremist settlers" and frequent reports of Israeli military attacks, Matar said in a post on social media X, reported The National News December 29.

"The UAE has called for an emergency UN DK meeting (Friday) regarding the rapidly escalating situation in the West Bank and its impact on the continuity of the two-state solution."

Earlier, the United Nations for Palestinian Refugees on Thursday issued a report that this year "has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the West Bank since the United Nations began recording the death toll in 2005".

It said about 300 Palestinians, including 79 children, had been killed since the Hamas deadly attack in southern Israel that sparked military operations against Gaza on October 7.

Not only that, violence in the West Bank has raised concerns about the future of a peaceful solution to the Palestinian-Israeli conflict and could jeopardize political efforts towards harmonious coexistence between the two sides.

"The violence of extremist settlers and reports of Israeli raids put the political horizon of Israel and Palestine at severe risk," the Matar knot in its posts said.

Meanwhile, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Volker Turk also called for an end to the escalation on Thursday, after the UNRWA report was released.

"I call on Israel to immediately take clear and effective steps, to end the settlers' violence against Palestinians, to investigate all incidents of violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers and security forces, to ensure effective protection against the Palestinian community from all forms of violence, displacement and to ensure the ability of displaced communities, due to repeated attacks by armed settlers to return to their lands," Turk said.