UN HCHR Zeid Ra'ad Al Hussein recalled the exceptionality of this October's last wave of violence, provoked by the contended status of the Al Aqsa mosque compound, which brought about the death of 58 Palestinians and 11 Israeli and over 200 wounded. He warned that "Violence between Palestine and Israel will draw us closer to catastrophe if not stopped immediately".

"The situation of human rights in the occupied Palestinan territories (...) is the most critical since 1948," denounced Abbas, due to the continued policy of settlements aimed at changing the status of East Jerusalem, the "extrajudicial killings" of Palestinians exercising their right to peaceful protest, as well as the thousands of cases of arbitrary detentions and the policy of house demolitions. He added "The Security Council is urgently requested to immediately set up a special regime for the protection of the Palestinian people."

Abbas also reiterated his calls for the full application of International Humanitarian Law (IHL) and Human Rights Law (IHRL) to the oPts and extended, once more, Palestine's invitation to the UN Special Rapporteurs to visit Palestine. In the past, UN Special Rapporteurs were in fact denied access to the oPts by Israel. This was the case, for instance, of Rashida Manjoo, UN Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women (SR VAW), who was invited by Palestine for a visit in January 2015 but was not allowed in the oPts by Israel because "there is no such country [as Palestine]," as explained Israel's Foreign Ministry spokesman.

"This special one-hour meeting of the UN Human Rights Council is a rare event, which demonstrates the urgency to address the worsening situation in Palestine," comments Rachid Mesli, Legal Director at Alkarama. "Israel must stop turning a deaf ear to the calls demanding for respect of international law and uphold its obligations." Alkarama hopes this event will encourage Israel to finally respect IHL and IHRL as well as the dignity of Palestinian people while engaging in a sincere and open peace process.

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