General Assembly Debate on Item 37, The situation in the Middle East and Item 38, Question of Palestine, 20 May 2021
Mr President,
Estonia aligns itself with the statement delivered by the European Union. We will add some remarks in our national capacity.
Estonia is deeply concerned about the escalation of violence in Israel and in the occupied Palestinian territory. The increasing number of civilian casualties on both sides is highly alarming. All parties have an obligation to protect civilians, especially children. Any indiscriminate targeting of civilian, humanitarian and media structures violates international law and must be avoided at all costs. We join the Secretary-General’s urgent appeal for all parties to immediately cease the fighting and we welcome the recent announcement of truce by the parties to the ongoing conflict in Israel and Gaza and we call for it to go into effect immediately.
We strongly condemn escalation by firing rockets by Hamas and other militant groups against Israeli civilian population. There can be no justification for such indiscriminate violence and it must stop immediately. Israel has a legitimate right for self-defence against such attacks. At the same time, it is essential to ensure proportionality of these actions, in line with international humanitarian law.
As the humanitarian situation in Gaza is deteriorating, it is vital to allow unhindered and sustained humanitarian access for those in need in Gaza.
It is also important to calm the volatile situation and incitement around the Temple Mount/Haram al-Sharif. The status quo of the holy sites must be respected.
We call upon the political, community and religious leaders of both sides to make all efforts to calm the situation, which has a potential to escalate to full-scale war. All parties need to exercise maximum restraint and refrain from further provocation and incitement. We support all efforts to de-escalate the violence and to reach a ceasefire by international and regional actors.
The solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can only be achieved through meaningful negotiations. Estonia remains committed to supporting all efforts, especially by the Middle East Quartet, to resume direct negotiations between the Israelis and the Palestinians, to achieve a two-state solution, based on international law and relevant Security Council resolutions.
Thank you.