Gaza, February 04: UN human rights chief Navi Pillay will visit Israel and the Palestinian territories, including Gaza, starting on Sunday where she will meet leaders from both sides.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, will visit Israel, Gaza and the West Bank on February 6-11, her office said in a statement.
“During her visit, Ms. Pillay will meet officials at the highest level, including Israeli President Shimon Peres, Palestinian Authority president Mahmud Abbas and prime minister Salam Fayyad,” it added.
Her office told AFP that the visit was requested by both governments.
Israel has traditionally been sharply critical of UN human rights bodies and their criticism of violations in the Palestinian territories, and has refused to cooperate with some of the world body’s rights experts.
“The high commissioner’s plans include, among others, tours to parts of the West Bank, as well as Gaza, including Beit Hanoun, to speak to affected groups and get a first-hand view of the situation on the ground,” the statement said.
In Israel, Ms. Pillay will pay her respects at the Yad Vashem Holocaust memorial and visit schools.
Pillay is also scheduled to meet ministers on both sides, members of the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and the president of the Supreme Court of Israel.
She will also meet Israeli and Palestinian human rights activists, the Palestinian Independent Commission on Human Rights, and UN agencies in the area.
Successive UN human rights chiefs have been highly critical of Israel’s settlement plans, a blockade of the Gaza Strip, the building of a barrier between Israel and Palestinian territories in the West Bank and other restrictions.
Pillay called for an end to a “vicious cycle of provocation and retribution” in 2009 after condemning Israel’s devastating military offensive in the Gaza Strip as well as Palestinian rocket attacks on Israel, notably around Sderot.
Last May, the former South African judge condemned Israel’s use of military force against an aid flotilla heading for blockaded Gaza as “disproportionate”, after up to 19 people were killed when the vessels were stormed.
“The blockade lies at the heart of so many of the problems plaguing the Israel-Palestine situation, as does the impression that the Israeli government treats international law with perpetual disdain,” she said at the time.
Israel had accused activists on some of the boats of initiating the deadly bloodshed by attacking its military boarding force.
Talks between Israel and the Palestinians, relaunched last September after a long hiatus, fell apart weeks afterward after Israel refused to renew a temporary ban on building settlements in the West Bank.
Shaul Mofaz, chairman of the Israeli parliament’s foreign affairs and defence committee, said uncertainty in Egypt added to the urgent need for accommodation with the Palestinians.
–Agencies–