UN Envoy: Gaza Will Suffer More Violence unless Truce Achieved

The UN's top Mideast envoy Robert Serry warned Wednesday that Gaza could erupt in renewed and more devastating violence unless there is a lasting cease-fire.

"There is an urgent need for all acts of violence to cease and for full respect of international humanitarian law by all parties," Serry said.

Serry spoke to the UN Security Council shortly before Israel announced that it will not open Gaza's blockaded crossings until Hamas resistance fighters free captured Israeli occupation soldier Gilad Shalit.

Serry told council members that a durable cease-fire can only be achieved if there is broad progress including an exchange of Palestinian prisoners for Shalit, who was captured in a 2006 cross-border raid, action to prevent the smuggling of weapons into Gaza, the opening of borders, and unity among rival Palestinian factions.

These steps, he said, would also pave the way for the longer term recovery and reconstruction of Gaza. "I emphasize these points...because one month since unilateral cease-fires were declared, a proper cease-fire is still not in place, and there is an ever present danger of a return to the unsustainable conditions of last year, or even for renewed and more devastating violence," Serry warned.

Asked afterward about Israel's decision to link the border openings with Shalit's release, the UN's special coordinator for the Middle East peace process said, "If you want to improve the situation in Gaza, you have to look at the other issues as well, and Shalit is a very important one."

The Palestinian UN observer, Riyad Mansour, stressed the importance of achieving a long-lasting cease-fire so that Israel does not go and attack our people as they want but said Shalit's release should not be linked to the opening of border crossings.

"These are two separate issues," he told reporters. "To connect them in this manner, it means that the Israeli government is not interested in a long-lasting cease-fire now, and not interested in opening the crossings and lifting the siege."

Japan's UN Ambassador Yukio Takasu, the current Security Council president, said members noted the fragility of the unilateral cease-fires and also want a durable cease-fire as soon as possible.

(source:AJP)