The membership of United Cities and Local Governments is deeply concerned about the increasing violence and tension in Palestine and Israel. More than 200 have lost their lives, and over a thousand Palestinians have been injured over the past days in Palestinian territories, among them many children, women, and elderly, while thousands of rockets have been launched towards Israeli towns, causing severe damages, casualties and threats in the civil population.
The UCLG membership is particularly concerned with the casualties among children and civilians, on both sides, and we call for immediate end to these acts of violence.
We call on both sides for the respect of human rights, international law, and international agreements, in particular in relation to Gaza. We call on Israel to end the threat of evictions of Palestinian families in East- Jerusalem and the respect of all religious sites. We also call for an end to violence and the firing of rockets into Israeli cities.
Following the call of the United Nations Secretary-General, we call for a political negotiation that, in compliance with approved resolutions, addresses the causes of the problem and fosters a two-state solution to the conflict.
We join the High Commissioner on Human Rights’ condemnation of the indiscriminate use of weapons by all parties and call for the strict respect of the cardinal principles on the conduct of hostilities, namely distinction, proportionality and precautions.
We stand with our local government members in the region and call for the involvement of local leadership in whatever next steps towards de- escalation and a cease fire, and to further enhance dialogue between all spheres of government in order to protect the lives of innocent civilians of both sides at all costs.