The Palestinian Authority is on the verge of "total collapse" due to the coronavirus pandemic and the crisis has been exacerbated by Israel's pending bid to extend sovereignty to large parts of Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley, UN envoy to the Middle East Nikolay Mladenov warned on Tuesday.
"May salary payments were delayed due to an 80% reduction in Palestinian revenues," Mladenov told the UN Security Council's monthly meeting on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "It is unclear whether the Palestinian government will have sufficient resources to make any future salary payments or, indeed, to continue to carry out its governing functions in the coming months."
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When COVID-19 first hit Israel and the Palestinian territories in mid-March, Mladenov had praised the joint Israeli-Palestinian efforts to combat the disease. But the second outbreak finds the parties increasingly at odds, he noted.
"We are far below the level of coordination that existed in the beginning of the year," Mladenov told the Security Council. "This situation could have serious repercussions on the ability to control the spread [of the virus] and its impact on people's lives."
Israel's extended sovereignty bid has prompted the PA to "end" its security coordination with Israel and its refusal to accept tax revenues from the Jewish state, which, compounded by Ramallah's dire financial crisis, has impacted the PA's ability to effectively fight the pandemic, he explained.
"Over the past few weeks, the UN has offered to increase its intermediary role between the parties. This includes COVID-19 response as well as a greater role in the facilitation of patient referrals from Gaza," Mladenov said.
"Nevertheless, there are limitations to what the UN and other organizations can be expected to do. Any increased responsibilities in this context should be limited and time-bound and not designed to replace the roles and responsibilities of the Palestinian Authority or the government of Israel."
Mladenov called on Israel to abandon its plans "to annex parts of the occupied West Bank," stressing that "the unfolding dynamics have shed a stark light on the daily reality of the conflict" and "have further exposed the un-sustainability of the occupation.
"Today, however, it is not enough to restate our opposition to annexation. Today we should discuss what can and must be done to improve the situation on the ground. We need to restart diplomacy!" he concluded.
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