以巴领导人呼吁为和平妥协

 　　UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 17 (Xinhua) -- A senior UN official on Monday called upon both Israeli and Palestinian leaders to make the "difficult compromises" that will promote stability and ensure long-term security in the region.

　　Jens Anders Toyberg-Frandzen, assistant UN secretary-general ad interim 1 for UN political affairs, made the statement as he was briefing the UN Security Council on the current situation in the Middle East.
　　Preventing a further escalation 2 of tensions in the Israeli- Palestinian conflict and returning to negotiations 3 has never been more important, he said.
　　UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon is alarmed by the rising tensions -- particularly attacks against religious sites -- that has continued since the Security Council's emergency session on Oct. 29, he said.
　　Israeli, Palestinian leaders urged to make difficult compromises for peace
　　"The secretary-general has expressed his deep concern about the upsurge in violence and calls on all sides to do everything possible to avoid further exacerbating 4 an already tense environment," Toyberg-Frandzen said.
　　"The continued reality of the close to 50-year-long occupation and the lack of progress towards the two-State solution ensure that the next round of violence is never too far below the surface, " he said. "The time has come for leaders on both sides to make the difficult compromises that will promote stability and ensure long-term security for both Israelis and Palestinians."
　　The two-State solution, widely backed by the international community, means a secure Israel to live in peace with an independent State of Palestine.
　　Ties between Israelis and the Palestinians have been tensed for several months, and this tension has recently grown due to deterioration 5 in the security situation in east Jerusalem and at al-Aqsa Mosque 6, one of the most holy shrines 7 for all Muslims all over the world.
　　Clashes between Palestinian youths and Israeli security forces in many parts of East Jerusalem and the West Bank have been taking place on an almost daily basis, and escalating 8 tensions surrounding access to holy sites have contributed significantly to the spike 9 in violence. Violence has also spread elsewhere in Israel and the West Bank, according to Toyberg-Frandzen.
　　He said that incidents have included Israeli police shooting and killing 10 an Israeli Arab man in the village of Kafr Kanna in northern Israel on Nov. 8, alleging 11 that the man had threatened them with a knife.
　　On the same day, thousands of people reportedly protested the killing, leading to clashes with police in the village. On Nov. 10, an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv and an Israeli woman in the West Bank were stabbed to death, while on Nov. 11, a Palestinian man was reportedly shot to death by Israeli security forces during clashes at a refugee camp near Hebron.
　　The secretary-general welcomes the renewed assurances by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that there will be no changes made to the status quo regarding the holy sites, saying he expects Israel to continue to ensure the protection of the holy sites and the safety of all worshippers, as per its agreement with Jordan.
　　While voicing hope that the announced confidence-building measures and firm commitments to maintain the status quo regarding the holy sites will "translate immediately into a de-escalation of tensions," Toyberg-Frandzen said he was encouraged by the lifting on Nov. 14 of age restrictions 12 for access to the Haram Ash-Sharif/ Temple Mount, where Friday prayers reportedly occurred without incident.
　　Another worrying development, however, is the increase in demolitions 13 of Palestinian buildings, which is also contributing to rising animosity in Jerusalem. Since Oct. 21, a total of 82 structures -- of which 47 are residential 14 -- were demolished 15 in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem. The demolitions displaced 169 Palestinians, including 80 children.
　　Meanwhile, Israel's ongoing 16 settlement activity "continues to undermine efforts to calm the tensions in Jerusalem," said Toyberg- Frandzen, who noted 17 plans have been advanced to build some 500 residential units in the settlement of Ramat Shlomo, and 28 new building permits and 200 new residential units were approved in the settlement of Ramot, in East Jerusalem.
　　He also stressed that such actions are in defiance 18 of the unanimous opposition 19 to increased settlement activity expressed in the recent Council session on Jerusalem.
　　"As the secretary-general has consistently repeated, such unilateral actions will only further impede 20 the chances for long- term stability and a durable 21 peace and should therefore be reversed," Toyberg-Frandzen said.
　　Reiterating 22 that the secretary-general urges the parties to return to peace talks, Toyberg-Frandzen noted the recent meeting on the peace process held in Washington and the call for the resumption of peace talks by the European Union's High Representative during her visit to the region this month.
　　"Returning to negotiations has never been more important," he said. "The absence of a credible 23 political framework is further hardening positions on both sides and is providing greater political space to those seeking to exploit the lack of trust between the two parties for personal or political gain."
　　The last direct peace talks between Israelis and the Palestinians, which were sponsored by the United States, stopped last March. The talks went on for nine months, but hadn't achieved any tangible 24 progress due to deep differences on settlement issue and the recognition of a Palestinian State.
　　Turning to Gaza, Toyberg-Frandzen said that while some signs of progress have gradually started to emerge, the overall state of affairs in the region remains 25 "volatile 26 and fraught 27 with potential pitfalls 28."
　　On a positive note, he noted that the temporary Gaza reconstruction 29 mechanism 30 began its operations earlier this month.
　　Led by the Palestinian Government of National Consensus 31 and working through the private sector 32, the mechanism's priority is the provision of reconstruction material for urgent shelter repairs.
　　He also noted that by Nov. 13, 1,086 Gazans had been able to purchase much-needed construction material, including some 10,146 bags of cement to start the rehabilitation 33 of their homes.
　　In addition, there are currently 62 million U.S. dollars worth of UN construction projects awaiting approval by the Israeli authorities for an average of 24 months. Timely approval of these projects would be an important step towards accelerating the recovery and reconstruction efforts in the Gaza Strip, he said.
　　"The United Nations is actively 34 assisting in facilitating the implementation 35 of the mechanism," Mr. Toyberg-Frandzen said. "But in order for it to be successful we need a conducive 36 environment and the cooperation of all the parties concerned." He also said that it is "critically important" that donors 37 honor the pledges made at the Cairo Conference on Oct. 12.
　　It is encouraging that Israel reportedly plans to increase the number of truckloads of construction materials entering the Gaza Strip, up to 800 trucks daily, instead of the current 350 trucks.
　　Calling on the Palestinian factions 38 to uphold their responsibilities to ensure that the reconstruction material is not diverted to support illegal activities, he also encouraged both Israel and Egypt to accelerate efforts to come up with sustainable solutions that will address their legitimate 39 security concerns while progressively easing border restrictions.
　　Toyberg-Frandzen, however, stressed that the reconstruction of Gaza is "doomed 40 to fail" without a long-term ceasefire between Israelis and the Palestinians. He also mentioned Egypt's intention to host talks during the second half of November after their postponement 41 last month.
　　"The importance of urgently continuing the negotiations cannot be overstated," Toyberg-Frandzen said. "We strongly encourage the parties to use the opportunity of the talks to reach agreement on concrete arrangements that will sustain the ceasefire and reinforce reconstruction efforts."
　　Specifically, he said the talks should involve discussion of tangible steps leading to the lifting of the closures that continue to "perpetuate 42 Gaza's socio-economic despair and embolden 43 the proponents 44 of extremism and violence."