Mr. Wennesland told an emergency briefing of the Security Council that he “watched in horror and in real time” as reports of mass casualties emerged from Al-Ahli Hospital in Gaza City on Tuesday.
“The circumstances of this catastrophe and responsibility remains and still needs to be clarified. And we will need a fact-based, full investigation and broad investigation,” he said, speaking from Doha.Brink of an abyss
Mr. Wennesland, officially UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, updated the Council on his efforts to end the current hostilities, which he called one of the most difficult moments facing Israelis and Palestinians in 75 years.He unequivocally condemned the Hamas militant group’s deadly attacks on Israel on 7 October, and seizure of hostages, saying there is no justification for these acts.
“I fear that we are at the brink of a deep and dangerous abyss that could change the trajectory of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, if not of the Middle East as a whole,” he said.After more than a century of conflict and over half-a-century of occupation, the international community had failed to bring the parties to a just, sustainable political resolution, he said. The recent events have served to re-ignite grievances and re-animate alliances across the region.
“The risk of an expansion of this conflict is real – very, very real – and extremely dangerous,” he warned.
