Violence escalates further. (Peacewatch: Middle East).

Amid intensifying violence in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 16 April, as this issue goes to press, reiterated his call for a third-party mechanism on the ground to quell violence and foster progress. 'Such a mechanism could take the shape of international monitors of a ceasefire", Mr. Annan said in a message to the UN International Meeting in Support of Middle East Peace, held in Nicosia, Cyprus.

On 1 April, Mr. Annan had called on the Security Council to simultaneously address Israel's security concerns and the Palestinians' political aspirations. He said he saw "no prospect of breaking the current downward spiral--and recreating the possibility of peace and security for both sides--unless we address the core problems in the Middle East: occupation; violence, including terrorism; and the economic plight of the Palestinian people". The Council convened at the Secretary-General's request so that he could brief its members on the "further sharp escalation" of the deteriorating situation on the ground. The Secretary-General reviewed recent developments within Israel and the occupied territories, including the suicide bombing in Netanya, which, he said, was aimed not only at Israeli civilians but also "at the very possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two peoples". He also reported the subsequent Israeli attack on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, warning of t he "disastrous results" the action could generate. "Indeed, I believe that Israel's presence inside the compound of Chairman Arafat, and its military actions in the West Bank and Gaza, can only produce a further deterioration and the loss of more innocent Palestinian and Israeli life, and should be ended immediately", he said. The Secretary-General also pointed to "worrying developments" along the Blue Line of withdrawal between Israel and Lebanon, including recent mortar and rocket attacks by Hezbollah and the Israeli response. "The Blue Line should not be violated by any party", he stressed. 'The combination of terrorist attacks against Israeli civilians, Israeli military action in Palestinian areas, and attacks from southern Lebanon across the Blue Line produce a situation which has clear potential to threaten regional peace and security."

Mr. Annan urged the Council to recall Saudi Arabia's peace proposal, adopted on 28 March by the Summit of the League of Arab States, as well as its own landmark resolution 1397 (2002) of 12 March, affirming a vision of two States--Israel and Palestine--living side by side within secure and recognized borders, based on land for peace, and its earlier resolutions 242 and 338. He called on the Council to do its part to implement the resolution, as well as a subsequent text, adopted in an emergency session on 30 March, calling on Israel to withdraw troops from Palestinian cities and urging the two sides to "move immediately to a meaningful ceasefire". Adopted by a vote of 14 to none, with Syria abstaining, resolution 1402 (2002) called on both parties to cooperate fully with United States Special Envoy Anthony Zinni and others to implement the security understanding reached by Central Information Agency Director George Tenet, as a first step towards implementation of the recommendations made by the committee chai red by former Senator George Mitchell, "with the aim of resuming negotiations on a political settlement".