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New Zealand has observed with deep concern the escalation in hostilities in the Middle East, involving the Occupied Palestinian Territory, Israel and Lebanon. We condemn the loss of innocent civilian lives and the destruction of vital civilian infrastructure.
We strongly urge all sides to pull back from violence, observe international law and allow international facilitators and mediators a chance to put a peace process together.
We condemn the killing and detention of Israeli soldiers by the military wing of Hamas and by Hezbollah. The soldiers must be released immediately and unharmed. Hezbollah must stop its rocket attacks on Israel, which have taken civilian lives. States with influence over Hamas and Hezbollah must act for restraint in the interests of the wider international community. The message to Hamas and Hezbollah must be that confrontation and violence are destroying the prospects for a peace settlement in the Middle East.
At the same time, we cannot accept that Israel has reacted with due proportionality or caution. Its attacks on the Occupied Palestinian Territories and on Lebanon, targeting militants and infrastructure, have also destroyed housing and caused hundreds of casualties, most of them civilians. It is causing further suffering through the denial of the basic necessities of life and forced displacement affecting hundreds of thousands of people in Lebanon and the Occupied Palestinian Territories. Israel must heed the many calls to restrain itself and allow full and immediate access to relief efforts. It must release officials of the Palestinian Authority whom it has detained.
The Secretary-General is to be commended for his efforts to bring about an immediate ceasefire and to begin the process of negotiating and implementing a solution to the crisis. He will need the full and active support of the Security Council to achieve that objective. New Zealand supports the thrust of his proposals and urges the Security Council to give them urgent and positive consideration.
There has been an ongoing failure to address and resolve the root causes of the conflict in the Middle East. The extremist message, which we deplore, has resonated where injustice, deprivation, fear and hopelessness reign. That philosophy is very dangerous for the Middle East region and the rest of the world.
A cease-fire in Lebanon and resolution of the immediate causes of the conflict must be followed by negotiations for a comprehensive peace in the region, if such crises are to be avoided in future.
