Daily Press Briefing by the Office of the Spokesperson for the Secretary-General – Gaza, Israeli Nationality Law (Excerpts)

19 JULY 2018

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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Question:  Farhan, today, again, Israel killed one Palestinian, and several were wounded in Gaza.  Again, and the rights… I mean, these disturbances still going on since the blockade of the crossing by the Israelis.  Do you have any idea as to what the Israelis are going to do?  Are they going to ease up on the crossing and allow some shipments at all into Gaza, or are the killing will continue?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, you’ll have seen that both Nickolay Mladenov, the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, and Jamie McGoldrick, the Humanitarian Coordinator in the area, have come out with statements in the last few days about our concerns about this.  We do want to see Gaza opened up again.  Mr. Mladenov, as you know, urged the Palestinian side to avoid all provocations, including the flying of incendiary kites, and he urged restraint by the Israeli authorities on the ground.  And Mr. McGoldrick called again for the need for regular humanitarian traffic to proceed to the area.  Yes?

Question:  Thanks, Farhan.  The Israeli Knesset has passed a nation‑state law which stipulates that Israel is the historical homeland of the Jewish people and that they have an exclusive right to national self‑determination in it.  The law also removes Arabic as an official language in Israel.  What is the UN Secretary‑General’s reaction to this?

Deputy Spokesman:  At this stage, what we’re doing is we’re studying the legislation that was passed.  When we have any response to share, I’ll let you know.

Question:  Okay.  The… kind of similar issue.  The… do you have any comment or information regarding six members of a Palestinian delegation that was meant to come present their voluntary national review at the HLPF [High‑Level Political Forum] on Sustainable Development?  They were supposed to present on Tuesday, but they were refused visas by the host nation.  Has the Palestinian Mission reached out to you about it?  And does the SG have a comment on this?

Deputy Spokesman:  Well, certainly, we’re aware of this latest incident, but as far as I’m aware, as you know, that there is a Host Country Committee that deals with disputes involving access to the United Nations and any problems dealing with the host country on that.  As of now, the Host Country Committee has not been approached or formally informed of this, so they haven’t acted on this.  But it’s normally their role to deal with this situation.  Of course, we would hope that all of those who are here to attend UN meetings would have the ability to do so.  Yes?

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