U.N. Council aims to protect Palestinians

Press, 29 January 1988, Page 6

U.N. Council aims to protect Palestinians

NZPA-Reuter New York Security Council members are working on a resolution to protect Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. One of the proposals being considered is a demand that Israel accept the legal application of the 1949 Geneva Convention governing the treatment of civilians in wartime. The Convention includes provisions which forbid deportations, such as that of four Palestinians by Israel earlier this month, and the establishment of settlements in occupied territories. It also establishes the occupying power’s responsibilities for maintaining order. Israel says the Convention applies only to territories where the ousted

power was the legitimate sovereign, which it says was not the case of Jordan in the West Bank or of Egypt in the Gaza Strip before 1967.

The Secretary-General, Javier Perez de Cuellar, said this argument was not accepted by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) or by the other parties to the Convention. The focus of the debate, which began yesterday, is a report by the SecretaryGeneral which says that the unrest in the territories urgently needs a political solution through an international peace conference under United Nations auspices. The Council is expected to return to that question in later meetings, probably next month. Dealing with the im.mediate crisis, the Secre-tary-General said the

international community should work together to persuade Israel to accept the legal applicability of the 4th Geneva Convention in the occupied territories and to “correct its practices” in order to comply fully with that document. Israel has been the target of world-wide criticism for its use of live ammunition in quelling the rioting, and later for resorting to widespread beatings. Pierre-Louis Blanc, of France, told the Council the first task was to ensure the safety and protection of civilians in the occupied territories, but the essential problem was their future and relations between Israel and the Arab States.

“It is quite obvious that the status quo can go on no longer,” Mr Blanc said.