UN envoy: Tensions eased in Gaza between Palestinians, Israelis

UNITED NATIONS — Tensions in Gaza have eased slightly, a month after relations between Israelis and Palestinians had deteriorated so sharply that international diplomats feared a war could break out, the UN’s special envoy to the Middle East told the 15-member Security Council on Tuesday.

Nikolay Mladenov credited intense diplomacy since the escalation in violence began March 30 has been reduced through intense diplomacy.

Mladenov stressed that both parties and international actors must continue working to stave off another outburst of violence.

“Only through the repeated, collective efforts of all sides has another catastrophic escalation been averted over the past weeks,” Mladenov said, detailing a list of provocations on both sides.

Israeli Defense Forces have shot and killed roughly 50 Palestinians and wounded more than 15,500 more since thousands amassed on the Gaza/Israel border fence on March 30, according to UN estimates. Hamas has launched hundreds of rockets, mortars and incendiary kites and balloons into Israel, sparking fires that have destroyed thousands of acres of land. A sniper's bullet from Gaza shot dead an Israeli soldier last weekend. Israel has responded at various times with missile attacks on alleged Hamas strongholds.

“Today, I reiterate my call to all in Gaza to step back from the brink,” Mladenov said. “Those who seek to provoke Israelis and Palestinians to war must not succeed. … After intense efforts by the United Nations and Egypt, I can now report that the situation is calming down, although tensions remain.”

Nikki Haley. the U.S. ambassador to the UN, said the kites and balloons have caused fires in Israel and destroyed some 7,500 acres of land.

“Israel is a small country,” she said. “The equivalent proportion of land in the United States would be the size of the entire state of Connecticut. In France, the equivalent would be 10 times the entire land area of the city of Paris.”

Haley highlighted what she said is a disconnect between the words that ambassadors from Middle Eastern countries use to support Palestinians and the amount of money they contribute to the organizations on the ground in the occupied territories.

The United States last year contributed $364 million to the UN Relief and Works Agency — a contribution that President Donald Trump slashed by $300 million so far in 2018 — while Haley said some countries like Iran and Algeria contributed nothing in 2017.

“Last year, while Algeria was providing nothing to UNRWA, and Turkey was providing $6.7 million dollars, the United States gave $364 million dollars. That’s ten times the combined amounts from every country I just named,” she said.

Riyad Mansour, permanent observer for Palestine, said Israel has been the aggressor in the current conflict, causing the humanitarian crisis.

“They have been peacefully protesting the unbearable conditions they have been facing,” he said. “However, Israel persists with its willful killing of Palestinian civilians and disregard of human life. Therefore, it is imperative that the international community act urgently to prevent further assaults against Palestinian civilians… "

But Israel’s ambassador to the UN, Danny Danon, blamed Hamas as the source of the problems and their escalation.

"Last weekend, an IDF soldier was killed by Hamas terrorists while Hamas fired more than 200 rockets at Israeli citizens,” he said. “In recent months, Hamas has burned over 7,400 acres of land in Israel, the land area as half of Manhattan. Just imagine if half of Manhattan would go up in flames as a result of terrorism.”