A senior United Nations envoy has deplored Israel’s “unacceptable” evictions of Palestinian refugee families from the homes in East Jerusalem, stressing that the move only serves to amplify already high tensions and block progress towards the peace process.

 

A statement by the UN Information Center (UNIC) here said dozens of people registered with the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA) were forced out by Israeli security forces over the weekend from the Arab neighborhood of Sheikh Jarrah, with Israeli settlers moving into their homes.

“These actions are contrary to the provisions of the Geneva Conventions related to the occupied territory,” Robert Serry, UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, said in a statement issued Sunday in Jerusalem.

The evictions, he said, flout the united calls by the international community, including those by the diplomatic Quartet comprising the UN, the United States, the European Union and Russia. In a joint communiqué issued after a June meeting, the Quartet called on Israel “to refrain from provocative actions in East Jerusalem, including home demolition and evictions.”

According to UNRWA spokesperson Chris Gunness, the evicted families’ belongings were loaded onto trucks and dumped at the edge of a busy Jerusalem road. Today, the UN agency helped the refugees – who lived in their houses for over half a century – recover their possessions, he said.

“Of the 53 people evicted, 20 are children and are reported to be particularly traumatized,” Mr. Gunness added. Meanwhile, Serry said in his statement that the UN rejected Israeli claims that the evictions are a matter for municipal and domestic courts, urging Israel to abide by international law and its obligations under the Roadmap plan for Israel and Palestine to live side by side in peace.

Last week, Serry condemned the Israeli security forces’ takeover of a house in Sheikh Jarrah, noting that the recent “upsurge in orders for house demolitions and evictions in East Jerusalem is contrary to the Roadmap. Any settlement activity in East Jerusalem is contrary to international law and cannot prejudice the outcome of negotiations.”

 

Source: IRNA

August 04,2009