News
UK Ambassador to UN urges 'meaningful dialogue' as West Bank tensions escalate
Dame Barbara Woodward told a UN Security Council Debate that 'urgent' action was needed
November 1, 2022 11:55
Dame Barbara Woodward told a UN Security Council Debate that 'urgent' action was needed
November 1, 2022 11:55The UK’s permanent representative to the United Nations has warned of the “urgent need” to calm tensions in the West Bank.
Ambassador Dame Barbara Woodward made the remarks at Saturday’s UN Security Council Debate on current events in the Middle East.
Ms Woodward, who previously served as the UK’s Ambassador to China, told the assembly that an “increasingly worrying deterioration of the security situation in the West Bank,” is ongoing, and that: “It is crucial that all parties take urgent steps to reduce tensions, condemn incitement and avoid further escalation in violence."
She said the UK remained “alarmed” by the “number of Palestinians killed in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, by Israeli Security Forces, including six minors this month,” and urged transparent probes.
She also expressed concern about “the increase in Palestinian violence,” following the fatal shootings of “two IDF soldiers by Palestinians.
Over the weekend, a Palestinian terrorist opened fire near the West Bank settlement of Qiryat Arba on Saturday night resulting in the death of one Israeli man and the wounding of four others.
A slew of Palestinian attacks that caused 19 deaths prompted a renewed anti-terror earlier this year, resulting in more than 2000 arrests and 125 plus Palestinian deaths many following armed clashes with security forces.
On Tuesday Israelis will head to the polls for their fifth general election in under four years, with the possibility of a right-wing coalition bent on West Bank annexation gaining power.
“More action also needs to be taken to tackle settler violence, which has affected IDF soldiers, but affects Palestinians on a daily basis across the West Bank," the Ambassador claimed.
She also said that on the tenth anniversary of the International Day of the Girl this month, "we should all be reminded of the vital role that UNRWA plays in the region".
She said that while girls in Gaza and the West Bank, "outperform boys at school and represent around 60 per cent of Palestinian graduates, the fact that employment rates remain low, with only 13 per cent of women over 25 employed, needs urgent and meaningful attention."
She also reiterated the UK’s “firm support” for the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) as a “stabilising force," and said she encourage efforts to improve its "serious financial situation".
Earlier this year the agency was criticised after a report from Brussels found evidence of incitement and antisemitism in Palestinian textbooks.
Ambassador Woodward spoke of “the need for the parties to engage in meaningful dialogue and collaborate to address the escalating situation in the West Bank is urgent,” and reported close work “with the parties to that end and we welcome the efforts of the UN Special Coordinator to support de-escalation and encourage further work to reverse negative trends on the ground.”
In September she affirmed that “the UK firmly believes that a two-state solution, based on 1967 lines, with Jerusalem as a shared capital… is the best way to deliver long-term peace”.
Newly appointed Prime Minister Rishi Sunak said during his first leadership campaign this summer that Jerusalem is “indisputably" Israel's historic capital, but did not commit to officially recognising it as such by moving the British embassy.