By KUNA,
Geneva : The UN special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories occupied since 1967 John Dugard has described the Israeli incursions and the attacks by Hamas as madness.
Dugard said: “How long is this madness to continue without serious international intervention.” He said that the blood-letting in Gaza, and to a lesser extent, the West Bank continues.
In a statement issued Thursday, Dugard said that on Wednesdayl, around 20 Palestinians were killed in Israeli military operations. The majority of those killed were civilians and five were children, he added.
He said that on the same day three Israeli soldiers were killed.
“How is it that it has not become clear to many responsible persons with experience of the conflict, both in Israel and elsewhere, that only direct negotiations or talks between the real parties involved — Israel and Hamas — can stop the killings,” Dugard said.
Dugard stressed that it is the responsibility of the United Nations, as the ultimate guardian of human rights and international peace, to open lines of communication between Israel, Hamas, and the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah, and to bring them to the negotiating table.
Such a step would also contribute to the advancement of Palestinian national unity — another area which the United Nations has to date failed to address.
“The right to life is the most precious and important human right. The United Nations, acting through the Security Council or the Secretary-General, must do its utmost to protect the lives of both Palestinians and Israelis,” he added.
Dugard explained that it is surely not too much to ask of the Security Council, and if it cannot act, the Secretary-General, to protect human life, even if it means talking to a group of which it may disapprove of politically.