The US says that the UN report on Israel and Palestine "does not help advance" on human rights

Washington criticizes "the open and vague nature of the commission of inquiry" of the UN Human Rights Council

MADRID, 8 Jun. (EUROPA PRESS) -

The Government of the United States has affirmed that the report published on Tuesday by a United Nations investigative commission that points to the Israeli occupation as the main cause of instability and tensions in the region "does not help to advance" in the search for respect for Human Rights and fundamental freedoms.

The president of this commission, Navy Pillay, former UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, stated in her report that when the underlying causes of tensions between Israelis and Palestinians are examined, they point "overwhelmingly" towards Israel. Thus, she said that it is a conflict of "asymmetric nature", in which "one State occupies another".

This first report identifies forced displacement, home demolitions, settlement expansion, and the blockade of the Gaza Strip among the key factors contributing to increased Palestinian resentment and, by extension, more instability.

Experts also warned that the Palestinian Authority, which controls the West Bank, is using the occupation as an excuse for its own abuses and to justify continuing without elections. Doubts about respect for human rights extend to the Gaza Strip, a territory controlled since 2007 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas).

In response, State Department spokesman Ned Price stressed that "the United States is committed to advancing human rights in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza" and added that "Israelis and Palestinians deserve the same level of freedom security, prosperity, and especially dignity.

"As we have repeatedly said, we strongly oppose the open and vague nature of the UN Human Rights Council's commission of inquiry into the situation in Israel, the West Bank and Gaza, which represents a biased stance that does nothing to advance the possibilities of peace", he outlined.

Thus, he has stated that the report "does nothing to reduce these concerns." "While the United States believes that the UN Human Rights Council plays a crucial role in promoting respect for human rights and fundamental freedoms globally, this commission of inquiry and this report make no progress on this issue. target," he argued.

Price has emphasized that "Israel is the only country subject to a constant agenda in the UN Human Rights Council and has received a disproportionate focus compared to the human rights situation in other parts of the world."

"While no country is above oversight, the existence of this commission of inquiry in its current form is a continuation of a long-standing pattern of unfair singling out against Israel. We re-engaged and subsequently re-joined the Human Rights Council of the UN to be in a better position to address its failures, including this one, and we will continue to seek reforms," ​​he stressed.

For its part, the Government of Israel said on Tuesday the commission's report "is nothing more than a waste of money and efforts" by the United Nations, since it frames it within the "witch hunt" of the Human Rights Council. Humans, from whom the endorsement for the investigations came. Israel has been accusing this body of acting systematically in a biased way for years.