Violence escalates further.

• Author: Rutsch, Horst
• Position: Peacewatch: Middle East

Amid intensifying violence in the Middle East, Secretary-General Kofi Annan on 16 April, as this issue goes to press, reiterated his call for a third-party mechanism on the ground to quell violence and foster progress. 'Such a mechanism could take the shape of international monitors of a ceasefire", Mr. Annan said in a message to the UN International Meeting in Support of Middle East Peace, held in Nicosia, Cyprus.

On 1 April, Mr. Annan had called on the Security Council to simultaneously address Israel's security concerns and the Palestinians' political aspirations. He said he saw "no prospect of breaking the current downward spiral--and recreating the possibility of peace and security for both sides--unless we address the core problems in the Middle East: occupation; violence, including terrorism; and the economic plight of the Palestinian people". The Council convened at the Secretary-General's request so that he could brief its members on the "further sharp escalation" of the deteriorating situation on the ground. The Secretary-General reviewed recent developments within Israel and the occupied territories, including the suicide bombing in Netanya, which, he said, was aimed not only at Israeli civilians but also "at the very possibility of peaceful coexistence between the two peoples". He also reported the subsequent Israeli attack on Palestinian Authority President Yasser Arafat's compound in Ramallah, warning of t he "disastrous results" the action could generate. "Indeed, I believe that Israel's presence inside the compound of Chairman Arafat, and its military actions in the West Bank and Gaza, can only produce a further deterioration and the loss of more innocent Palestinian and Israeli life, and should be ended immediately", he said. The Secretary-General also pointed to "worrying...