UNITED NATIONS (Dispatches) – The UN’s Middle East envoy said Monday that more than 150 Palestinians have been killed due to the Zionist regime’s aggression so far this year, marking the highest number of fatalities in years.
‘’I am gravely concerned by the sharp increase in violence against civilians, which exacerbates mistrust and undermines a peaceful resolution to the conflict,’’ Tor Wennesland told the UN Security Council.
Wennesland called for an end to the violence and for all perpetrators to be held accountable.
He also expressed concern over Zionist settlement expansion in the West Bank and East Al-Quds, which the world body says constitutes a flagrant violation of UN resolutions and international law.
Some 4,800 housing units were advanced this year in Area C of the West Bank, and the number of housing units advanced more than tripled from the previous year – from 900 units in 2021 to 3,100 units in 2022, he said.
He urged the Zionist regime to cease advancement of all settlement activities as well as the demolition of Palestinian properties.
He also called on regional players and the international community to take concrete steps to change the negative trajectory on the ground and to move the parties forward towards a solution.
Meanwhile, China’s permanent representative to the United Nations, Zhang Jun, has reaffirmed his country’s support to the Palestinian people against the apartheid Zionist regime, blasting the occupying regime for its settler colonialism in the occupied territories.
Speaking at the UN Security Council session on the situation in the Middle East, including the Palestinian question, the Chinese envoy said his country “opposes the excessive use of force by (Zionist) forces”, calling for holding those responsible for the violations accountable.
He also noted that 2022 has been the deadliest year for Palestinians in the occupied West Bank since 2005.
“The occupying power should effectively fulfill its obligations under international law to ensure the security of people in the occupied territories,” Zhang said.
Zhang noted that the regime’s settlement expansion “encroaches on Palestinian land and resources, squeezes the living space of the Palestinian people, and violates the Palestinian right to self-determination, making a contiguous, independent, and sovereign Palestinian state even more elusive”, urging the regime to stop all its settlement construction activities.
Earlier this month, Chinese President Xi Jinping affirmed his country’s support for Palestine’s efforts to gain full membership in the United Nations.