UN stance against Israeli crimes ‘hypocritical’, Palestinians say

The United Nations mediators’ stance against Israeli crimes in the occupied Nablus “do not align with their duties and responsibilities,” the Islamic Jihad Movement said yesterday.

The movement’s media chief, Daoud Shehab, said in a statement that the UN officials’ recent remarks on the Israeli attacks in Nablus were “ignoring significant facts while not clearly condemning the Israeli acts,” describing the statements as “political hypocrisy”.

Referring to statements by the United Nations Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process, Tor Wennesland, Shehab pointed out that the remarks did not raise the “level of seriousness towards the Israeli violations,” adding that the UN had also “deliberately avoided holding Israel responsible.”

Shehab stressed that the use of the term “cycle of violence” by Wennesland was “misleading the public with the aim of equating between the victim and the executioner.”

“Deeply disturbed by the continuing cycle of violence & appalled by the loss of civilian lives,” Wennesland said in tweet, urging all concerned parties “to refrain from any steps that could further inflame an already volatile situation.”

Deeply disturbed by the continuing cycle of violence & appalled by the loss of civilian lives. Continuing my engagement w/ all concerned parties to deescalate the situation. I urge all sides to refrain from steps that could further enflame an already volatile situation.#Nablus pic.twitter.com/1ZkD6gRrDK

— Tor Wennesland (@TWennesland) February 22, 2023

Early on Wednesday, Israeli occupation forces raided the city of Nablus and murdered 11 Palestinians, including a 72-year-old man and a 16-year-old child, in addition to wounding 102 others.