Covid19: A threat to stability in Middle East, says UN envoy

A comprehensible approach is crucial to contain the pandemic as it causes instability in the region, said Nickolay Mladenov, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, to the Security Council on Monday.

The UN will continue its measures to increase cooperation, such as to urge the parties to mitigate risks together, save lives, and avoid unilateral actions that demoralize the efforts.

With the emergence of COVID-19, a crisis extends throughout the Occupied Palestinian Territory and has intensified the humanitarian and economic challenges along with constraints of restrictions in Israel and Gaza, Mladenov added. The Palestine Authority's coordination with Israel remains suspended, however, UN-brokered arrangements manage to transfer medical patients from Gaza to hospitals beyond and supply humanitarian necessities into the area.

"The UN cannot replace the roles and responsibilities of the Palestinian Authority or the Government of Israel," he said, "Any increased responsibilities for the UN in this regard should be limited and timebound."

The UN official emphasized that to attain peace between Palestine and Israel, it requires leadership from both regions to work together for the cause. He also advised the Palestinian leadership to restart its coordination with Israel and accept its clearance revenues, calling it "money that belongs to the Palestinian people and cannot be replaced by donor funding".

The special coordinator said that "the commitment to the two-state solution, in line with UN resolutions and international law, continues to be affirmed by broad regional and international consensus" while pointing to the recent normalization agreements between Israel and Bahrain, the United Arab Emirates and Sudan, along with statements from international partners and the League of Arab States.

(With inputs from IANS)