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Guterres Supports Transition Period Allowing Strengthened PA to Administer Gaza

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses reporters in New York on Monday (UN)
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses reporters in New York on Monday (UN)
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Guterres Supports Transition Period Allowing Strengthened PA to Administer Gaza

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses reporters in New York on Monday (UN)
UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres addresses reporters in New York on Monday (UN)

UN Secretary General Antonio Guterres called on Monday for a “transition period” in the Gaza Strip, involving several countries and leading to a two-State solution between the Palestinians and the Israelis.
The UN Chief also noted that Gaza is witnessing an unparalleled and unprecedented level of civilian death, compared to any other conflict since he became Secretary-General in 2017.
At a press conference dealing with the latest emissions, Guterres said in New York that a humanitarian ceasefire was a crucial first step, along with unrestricted access for humanitarian aid, “the liberation of hostages” and an end to violations of international humanitarian law and protection of civilians.
Also addressing how the region can move forward once the fighting stops, the UN chief said that it was “important to be able to transform this tragedy into an opportunity.”
For that to be possible, he said, “it is essential that after the war we move in a determined, irreversible way to a two-State solution.”
Guterres affirmed that this means also that after the war, it is crucial to have a strengthened Palestinian Authority to assume responsibilities in Gaza.
But the PA cannot go into Gaza backed by Israeli tanks, he added — meaning the “international community needs to look into a transition period.”
“I do not think that a UN protectorate in Gaza is a solution. I think we need a multi-stakeholder approach in which different countries, different entities, will cooperate. For Israel, of course, the US is the main guarantor of its security. For Palestinians, the neighboring and Arab countries of the region are essential,” Guterres said.
He added that everybody needs to come together to make the conditions for a transition, allowing for “a strengthened PA, to assume responsibility in Gaza in a determined and irreversible way to a two-State solution based on the principles that have been largely established by the international community.”
Asked about his repeated calls for a ceasefire, Guterres said, “We are witnessing a killing of civilians that is unparalleled and unprecedented in any conflict since I have been Secretary-General.”
For seven years now, Guterres has published a “list of shame” of parties to armed conflict who commit grave violations against children.
In the “shame” reports, he said the highest number of children killed in one year by one actor was the Taliban in Afghanistan in 2017-2018, followed by the Syrian government and its allies before 2020. Both times the tally was in the hundreds.
“What is clear is that we have had in a few weeks thousands of children killed,” Guterres told reporters.

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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
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Cyprus Can Help Rid Syria of Chemical Weapons, Search for its Missing, Says Top Diplomat

FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah
FILE PHOTO: A UN chemical weapons expert, wearing a gas mask, holds a plastic bag containing samples from one of the sites of an alleged chemical weapons attack in the Ain Tarma neighborhood of Damascus August 29, 2013. REUTERS/Mohamed Abdullah

Cyprus stands ready to help eliminate Syria’s remaining chemical weapons stockpiles and to support a search for people whose fate remains unknown after more than a decade of war, the top Cypriot diplomat said Saturday.

Foreign Minister Constantinos Kombos said Cyprus’ offer is grounded on its own past experience both with helping rid Syria of chemical weapons 11 years ago and its own ongoing, decades-old search for hundreds of people who disappeared amid fighting between Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriots in the 1960s and a 1974 Turkish invasion, The AP reported.

Cyprus in 2013 hosted the support base of a mission jointly run by the United Nations and the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) to remove and dispose of Syria's chemical weapons.

“As a neighboring country located just 65 miles from Syria, Cyprus has a vested interest in Syria’s future. Developments there will directly impact Cyprus, particularly in terms of potential new migratory flows and the risks of terrorism and extremism,” Kombos told The AP in written replies to questions.

Kombos said there are “profound concerns” among his counterparts across the region over Syria’s future security, especially regarding a possible resurgence of extremist groups like ISIS in a fragmented and polarized society.

“This is particularly critical in light of potential social and demographic engineering disguised as “security” arrangements, which could further destabilize the country,” Kombos said.

The diplomat also pointed to the recent proliferation of narcotics production like the stimulant Captagon that is interconnected with smuggling networks involved in people and arms trafficking.

Kombos said ongoing attacks against Syria’s Kurds must stop immediately, given the role that Kurdish forces have played in combating extremist forces like the ISIS group in the past decade.

Saleh Muslim, a member of the Kurdish Presidential Council, said in an interview that the Kurds primarily seek “equality” enshrined in rights accorded to all in any democracy.

He said a future form of governance could accord autonomy to the Kurds under some kind of federal structure.

“But the important thing is to have democratic rights for all the Syrians and including the Kurdish people,” he said.

Muslim warned that the Kurdish-majority city of Kobani, near Syria’s border with Türkiye, is in “very big danger” of falling into the hands of Turkish-backed forces, and accused Türkiye of trying to occupy it.

Kombos said the international community needs to ensure that the influence Türkiye is trying to exert in Syria is “not going to create an even worse situation than there already is.”

“Whatever the future landscape in Syria, it will have a direct and far-reaching impact on the region, the European Union and the broader international community,” Kombos said.