UK opposes ‘all unilateral actions’ making Israeli-Palestinian peace harder

The UK opposes all unilateral actions that will make Israeli-Palestinian peace “harder to achieve,” UK Political Coordinator at the UN said. 

Addressing the UN Security Council on Wednesday, Fergus Eckersley mentioned how 2022 had seen “rates of settler violence, and the emergence of new Palestinian militant groups,” and that 2023 “unfortunately also started with violence and instability.”

More than 170 Palestinians and 31 Israelis were killed in 2022, making it the most violent year since 2015.

Eckersley also repeated the UK support for a two-state solution, which is “the only way to end the conflict, preserve Israel’s Jewish and democratic identity and realise Palestinian national aspirations.”

The UK opposes all unilateral actions that will make peace harder to achieve, whether taken by the Palestinian or Israeli side, including the Government of Israel’s measures against the Palestinian Authority,” Eckersley added, referring to punitive measure taken by Israel, such as withholding £32 million in tax revenue from the Palestinian Authority.

The UK also calls upon all parties to “continue to uphold the historic Status Quo at Jerusalem’s holy sites,” including the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif, a flashpoint in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.

Eckersley also highlighted a recent desecration of 30 Christian graves in a Protestant cemetery on Mount Zion by two Israeli teenagers, saying it “speaks to the dangers of increasing division along ethnic and religious lines.”

“We are grateful to all sides for their swift condemnation of these shocking acts. As a defender of freedom of religion or belief for all, the UK urges respect for all burial and holy sites, which must be treated with dignity,” he said.

Lastly, Israel must “exercise maximum restraint in the use of live fire when protecting its legitimate security interest. In the first three weeks of this year, 14 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli security forces, including 3 children,” Eckersley concluded.

The number of Palestinians killed in 2023 rose to 16 on Thursday when two people were killed in the West Bank city of Jenin by the Israeli army, one of whom was a member of Islamic Jihad.

The army released a statement after the overnight raid in Jenin, saying “armed Palestinian gunmen fired heavily at the security forces, who responded with live fire.”

Israel’s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has advocated for the opposite of what Eckersley called for, namely relaxing the regulations on use of live fire, allowing soldiers and police to shoot at Palestinians throwing stones or Molotov cocktails. Ben-Gvir also wants to grant immunity to Israeli soldiers.