Middle East: resumption of negotiations urged.

The Security Council on 28 September - in expressing its "deep concern about the tragic events in Jerusalem and the areas of Nablus, Ramallah, Bethlehem and the Gaza Strip, which resulted in a high number of deaths and injuries among the Palestinian civilians", and about the "clashes between the Israeli army and the Palestinian police and the casualties on both sides" - called for the "immediate resumption of negotiations within the Middle East peace process on its agreed basis and the timely implementation of the agreements reached".

In adopting resolution 1073 (1996) by 14 to none, with 1 abstention (United States), the Council also called for the "immediate cessation and reversal of all acts which have resulted in the aggravation of the situation", and for the "safety and protection of Palestinian civilians to be ensured".

Violence deplored

On 26 September, Secretary-General Boutros Boutros-Ghali deplored the escalation of violence in which "dozens of Palestinians and several Israelis have been killed, and in which hundreds have been wounded". He urged restraint and appealed for a halt to any provocative action.

Ibra Deguene Ka of Senegal, Chairman of the Committee on the Exercise of the Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People, stated on 20 September, as the Committee met to consider political developments in the occupied territories, that certain measures by the Israeli Government had created "new and significant obstacles for the peace process, undermining confidence and posing a genuine threat to a just and lasting peace".

The mandate of the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force (UNDOF) - established in May 1974 to supervise the cease-fire and the disengagement between Israeli and Syrian forces - was renewed for six months, until 31 May 1997, by the Security Council on 27 November.

Day of Solidarity

The annual International Day of Solidarity with the Palestinian People provided an "opportunity to remind the international community that the question of Palestine, which is at the centre of the Arab-Israeli conflict in the Middle East, remains unresolved despite the many efforts that have been made over the years and despite the peace process which began at Madrid in 1991", Secretary-General Boutros-Ghali stated on 29 November, reaffirming that the...