Empowered Palestinian government critical to achieve lasting peace: UN

By Merve Aydogan

TORONTO, Canada (AA) - The UN on Monday stressed the vital importance of an “empowered" Palestinian government for achieving lasting peace.

"A strengthened, empowered Palestinian government that can administer the whole of the occupied Palestinian territory is critical as part of a path to achieving the establishment of a fully independent democratic, contiguous, sovereign and viable Palestinian state ... (and) remains the only way to achieve a lasting peace," Stephane Dujarric, spokesperson for UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres, told a press briefing.

Dujarric's remarks came on the heels of Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh announcing the resignation of his government on Monday to Mahmoud Abbas, the Palestinian president.

The administration of Palestinian territory has been split since 2007, with two separate administrations: the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank, and Hamas in the Gaza Strip.

"The United Nations stands ready to continue supporting efforts aimed at overcoming the humanitarian, political and financial as well as security challenges facing the Palestinian people," Dujarric added.

According to the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), newborns in Gaza are dying because their mothers are unable to attend prenatal and postnatal checkups, said the UN official, adding that the incessant bombings lead to premature births in women who "fleeing for safety and (out of) anxiety."

Asked what more the UN could do for Gaza, Dujarric said the UN chief will continue his call for a cease-fire but added that "those who have the power, those who are controlling the weapons, those who are holding the hostages, they have the power to bring this to an end."

Israel has launched a deadly offensive on the Gaza Strip since an Oct. 7 cross-border incursion by the Palestinian group Hamas, killing nearly 30,000 people and causing mass destruction and shortages of necessities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed.

The Israeli war on Gaza has pushed 85% of the territory's population into internal displacement amid acute shortages of food, clean water, and medicine, while 60% of the enclave's infrastructure has been damaged or destroyed, according to the UN.

Israel stands accused of genocide at the International Court of Justice. An interim ruling in January ordered Tel Aviv to stop genocidal acts and take measures to guarantee that humanitarian assistance is provided to civilians in Gaza.

Hostilities have continued unabated, however, and aid deliveries remain woefully insufficient to address the humanitarian catastrophe.