PALESTINIAN ENVOY TO UN DECRIES ISRAELI “WAR CRIMES”

        New York, 17 Ramadan 1434/25 July 2013 (MINA) – Riyad Mansour, Palestine’s representative in the United Nations, while addressing the members of the United Nations Security Council on Tuesday (23/7),  decried Israeli “war crimes” and extremist acts of “terror” against the Palestinians, along with land confiscation and settlement construction.

       He said that Palestine has not set formal conditions for the start of peace talks, but that any talks would be based on recognizing both the 1967 borders and Jerusalem as the capital of Palestine, along with addressing the situation of Palestine’s refugees, IMEMC reported as monitored by Mi’raj News Agency (MINA).

       Mansour stated that “settlements are the main obstacle to peace and sabotage any effort to achieve a two-state solution,” according to Ynet News.

       The media also reported that Mansour welcomed the European Union’s recent directive forbidding its members from working with or funding organizations and persons located in the West Bank or Golan settlements, which are illegal under international law.

       Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, condemned the EU directive, and also accused the United Nations of being “one-sided” in its monthly humanitarian reports about the situation in Israel and Palestine. 

       The latest such report released by the UN revealed that during the first half of 2013 there was an increase in the number of Palestinians injured by Israeli forces, as well as an increased number of Palestinians forcibly displaced from their homes due to demolitions.(T/P03/E1)

Mi’raj News Agency (MINA)