Security Council condemns attacks on civilians: calls for immediate cessation of hostilities by all parties.

The situation in the Middle East was seriously aggravated during February and March following a number of attacks and counter-attacks by Hamas and the Hezbullah against Israel and by Israel against the Hezbullah, which resulted in many civilian deaths. A cease-fire was finally reached on 26 April as a result of mediation by the United States, and a modicum of calm returned to the area.

Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali on 7 May, in welcoming the cease-fire agreement, expressed the hope that the restoration of calm in the area would "enhance the prospects for negotiations leading to a comprehensive peace settlement which would preclude further tragic events".

Attacks condemned

The terrorist attacks against civilians in Israel--the bombings in Jerusalem on 25 February and 3 March, in Ashkelon on 25 February, and in Tel Aviv on 4 March--were strongly condemned throughout the international community, including the Security Council and other UN bodies, as well as by the Secretary-General.

"These vile acts had the clear purpose of trying to undermine Middle East peace efforts through such terror", Council President Legwaila J. Legwaila of Botswana stated on 4 March. Council members also "reiterate their support for the peace process and call on the parties to consolidate it and to increase their cooperation in curbing violence and combating such terrorism", he added.

On 25 February, Council President Madeleine K. Albright of the United States had told the press that Council members, in extending their "deepest sympathies to the Government and people of Israel, especially the families of the victims", called upon all parties to "spare no effort to take all possible actions to continue to support, consolidate and advance the peace process".

Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali denounced the 4 March bombing in Tel Aviv--the fourth in Israel in nine days--as a "heinous act of cowardice".

The "civilized world will not, must not, tolerate these acts of terrorism which have no goal except the undermining of the Middle East peace process", he stated. "The senseless carnage must end. I appeal to all those who advocate violence to come to their senses."

In condemning the 3 March terrorist bombing of a bus in Jerusalem, the Secretary-General said he was "shocked and outraged by these appalling acts of terrorism against innocent civilians". He called on "all men and women of good will not to allow terrorism to endanger the precious gains achieved by the Israeli and Palestinian people at an already great cost".

That "upsurge of terrorism" required the world community to "stand together, to speak out, and to unite in action against these despicable acts of violence", Mr. Boutros-Ghali stated on 5 March in Mexico City.

"Nothing can justify those who murder and maim innocent people", he stressed. "No grievance can excuse these cowardly attempts to spread fear and death among a civilian population. Terrorists fear negotiations", the Secretary-General went on. "They reject democratic processes. That is why they step up their attacks whenever progress is being made towards peace".

The international community "must not let terrorism succeed", Mr. Boutros-Ghali urged. "We must join together to prevent their contemptible acts.... The Middle East peace process--and progress towards peace and justice--must be steadfast and must bravely go forward."

"How many more innocent people must die and suffer before we have peace in the region?" the Secretary-General asked on 26 February, at the opening of the 1996 session of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People. "Extremism from any quarter must be curbed", he stressed.

The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination on 6 March expressed "grave concern over terrorist acts victimizing certain racial, ethnic and national groups" and condemned the "recent terrorist acts in Israel resulting in the indiscriminate killing of innocent people".

By a statement issued at its forty-eighth session in Geneva, the Committee also declared that there was "no justification whatsoever for such acts" and expressed its "resolute and full support for the Middle East peace process".

On 22 March, another UN body--the Commission on the Status of Women-condemned the terrorist attacks in the Middle East which, it said, sought to "undermine the peace process" and had caused "loss of life ... and injuries among women and their families". In adopting a relevant resolution by a vote of 27 to 2 (Iran, Libya), the Commission also expressed support for the Declaration of the Summit of Peacemakers, held in Sharm El Sheikh, Egypt, on 13 March. Fully supporting its decisions, the Secretary-General, who attended the Summit, expressed the readiness of the UN to assist in implementing them in the legal and practical fields.

The European Union, in a declaration issued on 3 March, appealed to everybody to "give no quarter to the criminal network of those terrorist groups that are trying to hinder the peace process by bloody acts that offend the conscience of mankind".

Shelling deplored, end to hostilities urged

In deploring an 18 April incident, in which Israeli shelling resulted in a heavy loss of life among civilians at a site of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL), near the village of Qana in southern Lebanon, the Security Council called for an "immediate cessation of hostilities by all parties" and supported the "ongoing diplomatic efforts to this end".

(According to UN Spokesman Sylvana Foa, up to 800 civilians from the area were sheltering in the head-quarters of the Fijian battalion when the shells exploded, causing the death of 102 people and wounding several hundred, including four Fijian peace-keepers.)

(Israeli authorities maintained that the shelling of Qana was unintentional and was in retaliation for the launching of Katyusha rockets by the Hezbullah from a position close to the UNIFIL camp.)

The Council on 18 April, by unanimously adopting resolution 1052 (1996), also expressed grave concern at: "all attacks on civilian targets, including residential areas"; consequences which the ongoing fighting could have for the peace and security of the region and for the furthering of the Middle East peace process; and actions which seriously threatened UNIFIL's safety and impeded the implementation of its mandate.

All concerned were called upon to "respect the safety and security of civilians" and of UNIFIL, including its freedom of movement, and to "allow it to fulfil its mandate without any obstacle or interference".

In reaffirming its commitment to Lebanon's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence within its internationally recognized boundaries, and the security of all States in the region, the Council called upon all concerned "to respect those principles".

The Council called on Member States to offer humanitarian assistance to alleviate the suffering of the population and to assist in the reconstruction of Lebanon. It asked the Secretary-General to ensure that the UN and its agencies "play their part in meeting the humanitarian needs of the civilian population".

The Council adopted the text--sponsored by France, Germany, Honduras, Italy, Poland, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States--after rejecting a draft sponsored by 19 Arab States, that would have strongly condemned Israeli actions against Lebanon.

Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali on 18 April also deplored and condemned the UNIFIL shelling in the strongest possible terms, and said he was dispatching his senior military officer, Major-General Franklin van Kappen of the Netherlands, to conduct an "immediate investigation".

On 7 May, Maj. Gen. van Kappen reported (S/1996/337) that it was "unlikely that gross technical and/or procedural errors led to the shelling of the Unitied Nations compound", as claimed by Israel. However, "it cannot be ruled out completely", he said.

On 16 April, the Secretary-General had met with the Palestinian Authority Minister, Faisal Husseini, who had described the serious situation in the West Bank, Gaza and East Jerusalem as a result of the Israeli closure of those areas. Mr. Boutros-Ghali expressed deep concern and noted that UN staff had been prevented from travelling to work, as a result of Israeli measures.

At a 17 April meeting with Yossi Beilin, Minister without portfolio in the Office of Israel's Prime Minister, Mr. Boutros-Ghali expressed "deep concern about the deterioration in the Palestinian economy", the continuing hostilities along the Israel-Lebanon border and inside Lebanon, and the "negative impact that this would have on the Middle East peace process".

Mr. Beilin had informed the Secretary-General that his Government had decided to open the borders between Gaza and Egypt, and the West Bank and Jordan, and permit 10,000 Palestinians to work in Israel. He added that the closure had been intended to prevent further attacks.

Assembly urges end to hostilities

The General Assembly on 25 April condemned Israel's attacks on Lebanon's civilian population, especially against the UN base at Qana, called for an immediate cessation of hostilities, and supported the "ongoing diplomatic efforts" to that end. It expressed "grave concern and sorrow over the loss of lives and serious injuries to innocent men, women and children".

In adopting resolution 50/22 C by a vote of 64 to 2 (Israel, United States), with 65 abstentions the Assembly also called upon Israel to withdraw its forces from all Lebanese territory and strictly respect Lebanon's territorial integrity, sovereignty and political independence within its internationally recognized boundaries. Member States were urged to offer humanitarian assistance to "alleviate the suffering of the population" and help in the reconstruction of Lebanon.

It considered that Lebanon was "entitled to appropriate redress for the destruction" it had suffered, and that Israel was "responsible for such compensation". Also, all concerned were called upon to "respect the safety and security of civilians in conformity with the rules of international humanitarian law".

Council debate

Two meetings--to consider the security measures recently imposed by Israel in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, and the situation in the Middle East in view of the escalation of tension on the Israeli-Lebanese border--were held by the Security Council on 15 April.

A majority of speakers called for an end to the harsh measures which, in the words of Nasser Al-Kidwa of Palestine, represented a "siege of the Palestinian territory and the strangulation of the Palestinian people and their economy". Some of those measures had "absolutely no relation whatsoever to security considerations", since they had been in practice before the terrorist bombings in Israel, while others could "not be justified even from an Israeli security point of view", he stated.

Gad Yaacobi of Israel said that "during eight terrifying days in February and March", Islamic fundamentalist terrorists from the West Bank and Gaza had perpetrated "four separate suicide bombings within Israel, leaving 59 dead and 200 injured". In response, his Government had imposed a "closure of Israel to residents of the West Bank and Gaza", which was "not a form of collective punishment", but a "measure enacted solely to ensure security for the people of Israel".

Madeleine K. Albright of the United States said the discussion of Israel's closure of the West Bank and Gaza could "only polarize that already difficult situation and distract from the real challenges: how to combat terror, guarantee security, ease the economic dislocation of Palestinians and pursue the process of peacemaking". The Council should not engage in a "divisive rhetorical debate when there is so much work to do", she stressed.

Nabil Elaraby of Egypt said that "demolishing homes and starving Palestinians would not prevent terrorism". Rather, peace would be achieved by raising the living standards of all.

Guilio Terzi di Sant'Agata of Italy, speaking on behalf of the European Union, Bulgaria, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Malta, Poland, Romania and Slovakia, called on Israel to allow humanitarian assistance and materials for the internationally financed reconstruction programme into the territories, under appropriate security safeguards.

Samir Moubarak of Lebanon, one of 32 speakers addressing the second meeting on 15 April, pleaded with Council members to "take action to stop the Israeli military aggression" against his country. Israel was "killing and injuring Lebanese civilians", and there was an "exceedingly large number of displaced persons" from south Lebanon and surrounding areas, he said.

"The new cycle of violence should not be viewed apart from the overall situation in the south and west Bekaa", Mr. Moubarak stated. "It is not the question of who launched first this or that rocket. This is the result of the occupation by Israel in flagrant violation of Security Council resolution 425."

Israeli Ambassador Yaacobi argued that since 1 February, eight Israelis had been killed and 29 wounded by Hezbollah terrorists, and "last week 36 more Israeli civilians were injured in waves of Katyusha rocket attacks" on northern Israel. If Lebanon could not control the activities of Hezbollah, "Israel must defend its security by all necessary measures", he added.

The Secretary-General on 11 April deplored the "escalation of hostilities in Lebanon, in particular the retaliatory attack of the Israeli Defence Forces on Beirut", and regretted the loss of life. He urged the parties to exercise utmost restraint and implement all relevant Council resolutions.

Resolution 1039: UNIFIL extended

The mandate of UNIFIL was extended by the Security Council on 29 January for a further period of six months, until 31 July.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1039 (1996), the Council also called upon all parties concerned to "cooperate fully with the Force for the full implementation of its mandate", condemned "all acts of violence committed in particular against the Force", and urged the parties to put an end to them.

Established in March 1978 under Council resolutions 425 (1978) and 426 (1978), UNIFIL was to confirm the withdrawal of Israeli forces from southern Lebanon, restore international peace and security, and assist the Lebanese Government in ensuring the return of its effective authority in the area.

In welcoming the streamlining of UNIFIL, due to be completed by May 1996, the Council stressed the need to "continue efforts to achieve further savings by rationalizing the administrative and support services of the Force, provided they do not affect its operational capacity".

In a statement made after the adoption of resolution 1039, Council President Sir John Weston of the United Kingdom said the Council expressed concern over the continuing violence in southern Lebanon, regretted the loss of life, and urged all parties to exercise restraint. It also stressed the urgent need for the implementation of resolution 425 (1978) in all its aspects.

Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali on 22 January had reported (S/1996/45) that the situation in southern Lebanon remained "essentially unchanged and continued to be tense and volatile". UNIFIL's mandate, too, "remained unfulfilled". But the Force's "contribution to stability in the area and the protection it is able to afford the inhabitants remain important", Mr. Boutros-Ghali stressed. Nevertheless, like other peace-keeping operations, UNIFIL was "not an end in itself, but should be viewed in the context of the broader objective of achieving a durable peace".

In that regard, the renewed negotiations between Israel and Syria deserved "every encouragement and support, and it is to be hoped that they will quickly lead to tangible results", the Secretary-General stated.

`Humanitarian crisis'

Beginning 11 April, Lebanon had "again been plunged into a major crisis" involving at least 400,000 displaced persons, or one eighth of the country's total population, Yasushi Akashi, Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, told the press on 25 April at Headquarters.

On 19 April, the UN had started "mobilizing emergency humanitarian goods", he stated. Help from the Italian Government had made it possible to ship blankets, water tanks, health kits and other humanitarian materials to Beirut. Switzerland had provided emergency personnel.

Also, a "flash appeal" for some $8.5 million for basic supplies, such as food, water and medical kits, had been launched on 19 April, of which $4.5 million had already been collected, Mr. Akashi added.

UNRWA activities

Serious concern over the negative impact of the West Bank and Gaza Strip closures by Israel on the "health and well-being of the Palestinian refugees in the territories" was expressed on 26 March by Commissioner-General Peter Hansen of the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestinian Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA).

"Inevitably the poorest segments of the Palestinian economy are those immediately and severely affected, and it is these groups of needy Palestinians which are our priority concern", Mr. Hansen stated in Jerusalem, at the conclusion of a five-day fact-finding visit to the area.

UNRWA's operations had been disrupted by restrictions on the movement of staff and supplies, and construction projects--schools, health centres and refugees shelters--had been at a "standstill for three weeks", Mr. Hansen said. West Bank staff were still unable to reach their workplace, and essential stocks, such as medical, food and construction supplies, were winding down. Refugees, he added, accounted for 78 per cent of the population in Gaza, and 38 per cent in the West Bank.

"The most serious shortage is that of buying power", the Commissioner-General stated, since the proscription on Palestinian labourers from working in Israel meant a "stoppage of daily wages".

In response, UNRWA had made an emergency food distribution in Fawwar camp in the West Bank, which was under a tight curfew and remained sealed, Mr. Hansen said. But residents of other camps, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, were also demanding jobs and food.

In Jerusalem, the Commissioner-General had appealed "in writing and in person" to the Israeli authorities at the highest levels for an "easing of the closure and permission for Agency staff movement". He stressed that the restrictions had "crippled UNRWA operations, which support the peace process by providing a certain amount of social and economic stability".

On 18 March, a voluntary contribution of $3.5 million for projects under UNRWA's Peace Implementation Programme in Lebanon and Jordan had been announced by Japan. The $3.5 million brought Japan's support for the Programme to $31 million since October 1993, making it the second largest donor after the United States.

Human rights

Without respect for human rights there could be "no lasting peace, no sustainable development, no successful establishment of democracy in the region", Hannu Halinen of Finland, the Commission on Human Rights' Special Rapporteur on the question of human rights violations in the occupied Arab territories, including Palestine, stated on 20 March.

The Observer for Palestine, addressing the Commission, said that the Israeli policy of inflicting collective punishment was considered a "case of genocide under international law". In addition to the closures of the Palestinian territories, the Israeli occupation authorities still continued to "confiscate Palestinian land and to torture Palestinian detainees".

Israel argued that its security measures were "not collective punishments". They did not violate human rights and were "intended only to stop terror". It was "time for the Palestinians to assume responsibility for human rights in the self-governing areas", it said.

Syria believed that the situation in the occupied Syrian Golan and in other occupied Arab territories continued to deteriorate, and human rights violations there were serious. Israeli colonization still went on, leading to "further violence by settlers and greater suffering and loss by the region's rightful inhabitants", it stated.

Arafat elected President

Yasser Arafat, Chairman of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO), was elected on 20 January to the Presidency of the Palestinian Council's Executive Authority. The 88 members of the Council were also elected.

Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali on 22 January, in extending his congratulations to Mr. Arafat, also said that those "historic elections, and the widespread participation" by Palestinian voters in the Gaza Strip, West Bank and East Jerusalem constituted an "important step towards the achievement of the legitimate rights of the Palestinian people, providing a solid base towards their self-determination".

He hoped that the elections would "reinforce the parties' commitment to make further progress in their negotiations in the Middle East peace process, concluding the interim arrangements and reaching agreement on the permanent status issues outlined in the Declaration of Principles signed by Israel and the PLO in September 1993.

Summit of Peacemakers

All acts of terror in "all its abhorrent forms, whatever its motivation, and whoever its perpetrator" including the recent terrorist attacks in Israel, were strongly condemned by the Summit of Peace-makers, held on 13 March at Sharm El-Sheikh, Egypt. The gathering was attended by the leaders of 27 nations--the United States, the Russian Federation, Japan and Arab and Western European States--as well as Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali.

Through a statement issued by its Co-Chairmen--President William Clinton of the United States and President Hosni Mubarak of Egypt--the Summit also pledged to "promote coordination of efforts to stop acts of terror on bilateral, regional and international levels", and exert "maximum efforts to identify and determine the sources of financing" for terrorist organizations and groups, and "cooperate in cutting them off".

By expressing their full support for the Middle East peace process, the participants affirmed their determination to promote security and stability and "prevent the enemies of peace from achieving their ultimate objective of destroying the real opportunity for peace" in the Middle East. Terrorism was "alien to the moral and spiritual values shared by all the peoples of the region", the world leaders stressed, as they reaffirmed their intention to "stand staunchly against all such acts".

"Terror and terrorism have declared war against peace and security", Mr. Boutros-Ghali told the Summit on 13 March. They had become a "global phenomenon", because terrorists received arms, funds and instructions from abroad, travelled abroad to be trained, and took "refuge abroad after committing their crime", he stated.

Although world leaders had agreed to "act together to defeat terrorism"--at the 1992 Security Council Summit; at a special commemorative session of the General Assembly in 1995; in a 1994 Declaration on Measures to Eliminate International Terrorism, adopted under Assembly resolution 49/60; and in December 1995, by Assembly resolution 50/53, which urged States to promote and implement the 1994 Declaration--those commitments were "still only declarations", Mr. Boutros-Ghali observed. "The task before us is to take this normative foundation as our platform for rapid and decisive action", he stressed. The UN was "ready to serve this cause--ready to serve as a mechanism for mobilization on a global scale. The United Nations awaits your instructions", the Secretary-General declared.