I thank Special Coordinator Wennesland for his briefing. I wish him success in his new role and look forward to supporting him in his efforts. I also welcome Secretary General Aboul Gheit and thank him for his statement.
Estonia continues to support all efforts to resume meaningful negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians on all final status issues, based on international law, relevant Security Council resolutions and agreed parameters. We look forward to engaging in this regard with the members of the Middle East Quartet and the regional players, including the League of Arab States.
We view positively the normalization of relations between Israel and certain Arab states, which hopefully gives impetus also to revive the Middle East Peace Process, with the aim to achieve a two-state solution. We have welcomed the decision by the Palestinian Authority to resume civilian and security coordination with Israel and call upon both parties for further mutual steps for improving prospects for resuming peace negotiations.
We welcome the decree by President Abbas on holding legislative, presidential and National Council elections. It is essential that all relevant stakeholders support holding free, fair and inclusive elections for all Palestinians, throughout the occupied Palestinian Territories. We call upon all Palestinian factions to commit to international law and democratic principles prior to elections. We call on the Israeli authorities to facilitate the holding of elections across all the Palestinian territory, including East Jerusalem.
Estonia calls on all parties to refrain from any unilateral steps that undermine the viability of the two-state solution. We call to prevent any acts of violence against civilians, including acts of terror and acts of provocation, incitement and destruction. We call also on Israel to halt the continued settlement expansion and demolitions in the occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel’s latest decisions to advance plans for the approval and construction of settlement units in the West Bank and East Jerusalem, including in Givat Hamatos, are worrying and contrary to international law.
Finally, I would also like to reiterate the important role of UNRWA for the stability of the region and also for their efforts to mitigate the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on Palestinian refugees. We are deeply concerned regarding UNRWA’s critical financial situation. Estonia has increased its support to UNRWA in recent years and urges all countries to continue or increase their support to the Agency as well.