Secretary-General reports.

• Position: Javier Perez de Cuellar reports on Israeli-occupied territories & Palestinians

Secretary-General reports

The Secretary-General, in reporting on the visit of Mr. Goulding to the area, said:

. Mr. Goulding had visited three camps--Rafah in the Gaza Strip, Dheisheh, near Bethlehem, and Balata, near Nablus. During these visits and in other meetings with groups and individuals elsewhere, the situation in the territories had been discussed with about 200 Palestinian men and women "of all ages and from all walks of life, ranging from intellectuals and elected mayors to the most deprived residents of the camp."

. All rejected the Israeli occupation of the West Bank and the Gaza Strip and insisted that the Palestinian problem was not a problem of refugees but a political problem requiring a political solution. Priority had to be given to negotiating such a settlement and measures to alleviate the suffering of the civilian population should not substitute for an urgent solution of the underlying political problem.

. All had complained bitterly about Israeli practices in the occupied territories, especially the behaviour of the security forces, and about the Israeli settlements and the obstruction of Palestinian economic development.

. Top Israeli officials made clear they felt the Security Council "had no role to play in the security of the occupied territories, for which Israel was exclusively responsible". Nor did Israel accept the applicability of the Fourth Geneva Convention in the territories. They acknowledged that the situation in the occupied territories was "serious", that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) "lacked expertise in riot control", and that Israel regretted civilian casualties and was taking steps to "minimize" such casualties in the future.

In describing the situation in the occupied territories, Mr. Perez de Cuellar said there was a "conflict of evidence" as to what the situation was, with one side's version at variance with the others. He reported:

. The atmosphere, especially in the refugee camps, was marked by tension and unrest. Some said the disturbances were "not an isolated phenomenon" and had originated as "a spontaneous outburst of protest", as a reaction to 20 years of occupation and to the "lack of hope that it could be brought to an early end". Other subjects of complaint were: lack of outlets for political activity; Israeli settlements; deportations; interruption of education; shortcomings in the judicial system; heavy taxation and economic discrimination against the territories.

. Israeli...