Middle East 457 Chapter VI Political and security questions Middle East In 2003, the Middle East situation was marked by nomic consequences for over 200,000 Palestin- both hope and disappointment as the interna- ians, and the September decision of the Israeli tional community set in motion a process for a Security Cabinet to “remove” PA President Yasser settlement of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, only Arafat, who remained under siege at his head- to be thwarted by the intensification of the Pales- quarters. tinian intifada (uprising) and the defensive coun- Concerned about the deteriorating situation in termeasures adopted by Israel, stalling the politi- the region, the Security Council convened on a cal process and creating an unprecedented monthly basis during the year, and at times even humanitarian and socio-economic crisis in the more frequently, to discuss the situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory. Middle East, including the Palestinian question. The Quartet, a coordinating mechanism for On 16 September, a draft resolution, by which international peace efforts, comprising the the Council would have called on Israel to desist Russian Federation, the United States, the Euro- from any act of deportation and cease any threat pean Union and the United Nations, continued to the safety of President Arafat, was not adopted its efforts to mediate a ceasefire and to revive due to the negative vote of a permanent Council the peace process. It formally presented to both member, nor was a 14October draft resolution on parties at Aqaba, Jordan, on 30 April, its plan for the legality of the Israeli separation barrier in the restarting peace negotiations, the so-called “road Occupied Palestinian Territory. map”, which aimed to achieve progress through The General Assembly, at its resumed tenth parallel and reciprocal steps by the two parties in emergency special session, convened in Septem- the political, security, economic, humanitarian ber, October and December to discuss the item and institution-building areas, under an interna- “Illegal Israeli actions in Occupied East Jerusa- tional monitoring system, reaching a permanent lem and the rest of the Occupied Palestinian Ter- status solution by 2005. On 19 November, the ritory”, adopted three resolutions: one calling on Security Council endorsed the road map. In Israel to desist from any act of deportation and keeping with the terms of the road map, the Pal- cease any threat to the safety of President Arafat; estinian Authority (PA) initiated the reform of its another demanding that Israel stop and reverse institutions, including the creation of the post of the construction of the barrier and asking the Prime Minister, and Israel took measures to im- Secretary-General to report on Israel’s compli- prove the lives of the Palestinian population. The ance with the resolution; and the third request- two sides undertook to restart negotiations based ing the International Court of Justice to render on the road map. Also, a number of Palestinian an advisory opinion on the legal consequences groups declared a ceasefire in June. Those meas- arising from the construction of the barrier. In ures led to a significant reduction in the violence November, the Secretary-General reported that and a marked improvement in the security situa- Israel was not in compliance with the Assembly’s tion. A June summit meeting held at Aqaba, or- demands. ganized at the initiative of United States Pres- In southern Lebanon, Israeli forces and their ident George W. Bush, and attended by Israeli main Lebanese opponents, the paramilitary Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian group, Hizbullah, continued to face each other Prime Minister Mahmoud Abbas, gave new im- along the “Blue Line”, the provisional border petus to the implementation of the road map and drawn by the United Nations following the with- fostered new hopes about a peace settlement. drawal of Israeli troops from south Lebanon in Those hopes were dashed by the outbreak of a re- June 2000. An initial period of relative calm was newed cycle of violence in August, with a heavy replaced in the second half of the year by an esca- loss of civilian lives on both sides. The already lation of violence in the Shab’a farmland area, critical situation was made worse by the contin- which also strained relations between Israel and ued expansion of Israeli settlements, Israel’s ac- the Syrian Arab Republic. celerated construction of a separation barrier to Tensions escalated further in early October deter terrorist activities, with large parts of it cut- 2003, when, in retaliation for a suicide bombing ting into Palestinian territory, with serious eco- attack carried out by the paramilitary group YUN03—4th proofs April 28 2005 458 Political and security questions Islamic Jihad in the city of Haifa, the Israeli air first time since September 2000, both parties, force bombed a target inside Syrian territory. with the active assistance of the Quartet (the The Security Council convened in emergency Russian Federation, the United States, the Euro- session to discuss the attack, though no action was pean Union and the United Nations), committed taken on a draft resolution submitted by Syria. themselves to serious negotiations to halt the vio- The mandates of the United Nations Interim lence and reach a peaceful settlement. However, Force in Lebanon and of the United Nations Dis- renewed violence in the latter half of August 2003 engagement Observer Force in the Golan signalled the breakdown of the ceasefire de- Heights were extended twice during the year, clared by Palestinian groups in June (see p. 468) and the United Nations Truce Supervision Or- and a reversal in progress. In the renewed cycle of ganization continued to assist both peacekeeping violence and counter-violence, suicide bombings operations in their tasks. by Palestinian militant groups and targeted assas- The United Nations Relief and Works Agency sinations of members of those groups by Israel for Palestine Refugees in the Near East continued resumed. Consequently, the implementation of to provide education and health and social serv- the road map for resolving the conflict, formally ices to nearly 4 million Palestinian refugees liv- submitted to the parties on 30 April (see p. 464), ing both in and outside camps in the West Bank was frozen and some steps had actually been and the Gaza Strip, as well as in Jordan, Lebanon reversed. and Syria. An emergency appeal was launched in The performance-based and goal-driven road June 2003 to provide food, health services, shel- map presented clear phases, time lines, target ter and short-term emergency employment op- dates and benchmarks aimed at the progression portunities for refugees. by the two parties, through reciprocal steps in the During the year, the Special Committee to In- political, security, economic, humanitarian and vestigate Israeli Practices Affecting the Human institution-building fields under the auspices Rights of the Palestinian People and Other Arabs of the Quartet, towards resolving the Israeli- of the Occupied Territories reported to the As- Palestinian conflict and ending the occupation. sembly on the situation in the West Bank, includ- A settlement would lead to the emergence of an ing East Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the Golan independent, democratic and viable Palestinian Heights. The Committee on the Exercise of the State living side by side in peace and security with Inalienable Rights of the Palestinian People con- Israel and its other neighbours. At the beginning tinued to mobilize international support for the of June, at the Aqaba Peace Summit (see p. 465), Palestinians. organized by the United States President, George By decision 58/527 of 17 December, the Gen- W. Bush, and hosted by Jordan, Israeli Prime eral Assembly deferred consideration of the Minister Ariel Sharon and Palestinian Prime agenda item “Armed Israeli aggression against Minister Mahmoud Abbas committed them- the Iraqi nuclear installations and its grave conse- selves to begin implementing the road map. On quences for the established international system 22 June, the Quartet principals, meeting in concerning the peaceful use of nuclear energy, Amman, Jordan, reviewed the steps needed to the non-proliferation of nuclear weapons and in- begin that implementation. They called on the ternational peace and security” and included it Palestinian Authority (PA) to make all possible in the provisional agenda of its fifty-ninth (2004) efforts to halt the activities of groups and individ- session. The item had been inscribed yearly on uals planning and conducting terror attacks the Assembly’s agenda since 1981, following the against Israelis and called on Israel, while recog- bombing by Israel of a nuclear research centre nizing its right to self-defence, to respect interna- near Baghdad [YUN 1981, p. 275]. tional humanitarian law and to exert maximum efforts to avoid civilian casualties among the Pal- estinians. They also pointed out that steps had to Peace process be taken to improve the humanitarian situation and normalize the daily lives of the Palestinian people. Steps taken by the parties to start imple- mentation of the road map included the with- Overall situation drawal of Israeli forces from parts of the Gaza In his October report on the peaceful settle- Strip and Bethlehem and the declaration of a ment of the question of Palestine [A/58/416- ceasefire by various Palestinian groups, which S/2003/947] (see also p. 496), the Secretary- was arranged with the active involvement of General observed that the first half of 2003 Egypt. President Bush deployed Ambassador witnessed the emergence of hope for a turning John Wolf to lead the informal monitoring point in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. For the structure of the road map’s phase one commit- YUN03—4th proofs April 28 2005 Middle East 459 ments (see p. 464) on the ground, in full attacks, blew themselves up in Tel Aviv, killing 23 cooperation with other Quartet members.