Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General
The following is a near-verbatim transcript of today’s noon briefing by Farhan Haq, Deputy Spokesman for the Secretary-General.
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Occupied Palestinian Territory
And on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, our colleagues from the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) tell us that they are now in Jenin, together with partners, to assess humanitarian needs in the refugee camp following the end of the Israeli operation there.
The repair of water and electricity networks and provision of shelter for those who have lost their homes will be among the top priorities in the coming days.
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Questions and Answers
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Question: Thank you, Farhan. On Palestine, to what degree you think Israel listened to calls from SG to avoid civilians, if when in its recent attack, 80 per cent of the houses in the Jenin camp destroyed or damaged, 4,000 displaced and more than 120 civilians, either killed or injured, including five children killed?
Deputy Spokesman: Yeah. We’re certainly very disturbed by all of the accounts that civilians were killed and injured. I’d also refer you, beyond what the Secretary-General said on Monday, to what was said by the High Commissioner for Human Rights about this. We always want in all such operations for care to be taken to avoid places of high civilian concentration and to avoid facilities like hospitals. And it’s clear that in this case, over these days, there were accounts of civilian infrastructure and hospitals being hit.
Betul?
Question: Just a follow-up. If I may? The mayor of Jenin said that UN and specifically, UNRWA (United Nations Relief and Works Agency) failed to provide the support in face of this attack. Do you have any comment on that?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, the UN Relief and Works Agency, UNRWA, was trying very hard to maintain its facilities. Unfortunately, it wasn’t able to keep all of its schools and hospital facilities open, given the fighting. But now we are trying our best to again have facilities be open. And as I pointed out, we’re trying to step up and first assess needs and provide humanitarian aid to Jenin.
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Question: Thanks, Farhan. Back to Jenin, was UNRWA given a warning from Israel about this operation, and if they were, would that rise to the level of reaching the Secretary-General?
Deputy Spokesman: I’m not aware that any of the UN agencies were given advanced warning. No.
Question: There’s some talk that the UN was surprised at the brutality of the raid by the Israelis. Is that a correct way to summarize the Secretary-General’s reaction to it?
Deputy Spokesman: […] I wouldn’t use the word surprised. We’ve seen, unfortunately, too many examples of this violence in past years. But certainly, it is alarming — the scale of violence in terms of the effect on civilians.
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Question: Farhan, thank you. First, I have a follow-up regarding the attacks on the infrastructure in Jenin by Israeli army because I didn’t hear you condemning that. Do you condemn it? Do you believe… What’s your position on that? And also, since this destruction was made mainly by the Israeli army, do you believe they should pay for compensation for the destruction of schools, hospitals, et cetera? I have another question.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, regarding the attacks, certainly, we believe that any attacks on civilian infrastructure could be violations of international humanitarian law; and as you know, the Secretary-General on Monday issued a statement saying that any military operations must show full respect for international humanitarian law. That does not seem to have been the case.
Yeah. What was your next question? [cross talk]
Question: Yeah. There was the other part of my question regarding compensation when it comes to this destruction of infrastructure.
Deputy Spokesman: I think that’s an issue that will have to be resolved between the Israeli and Palestinian authorities, how they’ll deal with that.
Question: Okay. My question is the Palestinian President and also the Palestinian Ambassador, not only this time, but in other times, talked and called for protection of the Palestinian people, people who are under occupation. Does the Secretary-General believe that the Palestinians who are under occupation need to be protected? And if so, what is he doing about that?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, I think the views that we have had about the situation of Palestinians under occupation is something that is a matter of public record and is part of the statements and reports we’ve put out over the years. And so, I’d just refer you to those.
Question: No. No. I haven’t… because actually, you didn’t answer my question, because the Secretary-General has a report about the protection of the Palestinian people, that’s sitting… that he was required to provide in 2018 to the Security Council, and he did that. And since then, the Security Council didn’t discuss that issue, the issue of protection of the Palestinian people. So, the question is, why isn’t he pushing for at least discussing this issue in the Security Council or even in the General Assembly, if the Security Council is failing to do that? It is his own report.
Deputy Spokesman: Well, first of all, he did submit the report. They have it, and we report regularly, as you know, to the Security Council; indeed, the next one will probably be just a few days from now about the situation in the Middle East. So, we continue to raise our concerns about the situation of the Palestinian people, and it’s up to the council members to respond.
Abdelhamid?
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Question: Okay. Thank you. Yeah. I have few follow-ups on the question of Jenin and related issues. First, the SG issued a statement made of two lines, expressing concern and calling for the operation to abide by international humanitarian law; that’s all. And Mr. Tor Wennesland issued a statement in the early hours of the operation in which he said eight people were killed, including militants. That’s what he said. He didn’t mention including children. So, knowing what you know now, do you think that the SG and his Special Coordinator should reissue a statement condemning what happened in the refugee camp, knowing now there are 12 people killed including four children, at least, destruction of the infrastructure, including electricity, water pipes, attacking two hospitals, expelling about 12,000 from the refugee camp — and knowing all this destruction? All these information doesn’t require another statement similar to that of the High Commissioner of Human Rights, in which he said attacking by air force the populated area is equal to killing by intention?
Deputy Spokesman: Well, as you yourself just noted, the High Commissioner for Human Rights has also issued a statement. That’s also part of the statements that have come out from the UN system. Different agencies as well, including the Relief and Works Agency, have their statements. So, there’s a spectrum of statements that are issued and I think they together characterize our response to the situation.
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For information media. Not an official record.
Document Sources: Secretary-General, United Nations Department of Global Communications
Subject: Armed conflict, Casualties, Incidents, Incursions, Living conditions, Refugee camps, Security issues, Violence
Publication Date: 05/07/2023
URL source: https://press.un.org/en/2023/db230705.doc.htm