Italy's foreign minister Enzo Moavero Milanesi and the foreign ministers of Sweden, Norway, Switzerland and Turkey issued a joint statement on Friday expressing "regret" at the unilateral decision by the Israeli government not to renew the Temporary International Presence in Hebron (TIPH) mandate beyond 31 January.
"Since the UN Security Council adopted resolution 904 in 1994, calling for a temporary international presence in the occupied Palestinian territory, the situation in Hebron remains tense and fragile, the statement said, referring to the flashpoint West Bank city.
"We are concerned that the Israeli government’s decision undermines one of the few established mechanisms for conflict resolution between Israelis and Palestinians and may therefore have a negative impact on the situation," the statement continued.
"In this regard, we stress Israel’s obligations under international law to protect the people in Hebron and in other parts of the occupied Palestinian territory, and its duty to ensure accountability for violations thereof."
Moavero, Sweden's foreign minister Margot Wallstrom, and their Norwegian, Swiss and Turkish counterparts, Eriksen Soreide, Ignazio Cassis and Mevlut Cavusoglu defended the TIPH's record and said they "strongly" objected to any claim that the TIPH had acted against Israel.
"Such claims are unacceptable and ungrounded," the ministers stated.
The statement urged the TIPH to close down as of Friday "in an orderly, safe and dignified manner within a realistic timeframe".
"We call on both parties to assist and facilitate the TIPH through this process and remind them of their responsibilities for the security and inviolability of the TIPH," they said in the statement.
The statement also urged both sides "to make progress towards a peaceful settlement of the conflict and to resolve all outstanding issues".
"Only a negotiated two-state solution can create a durable peace between the parties, with Israel and Palestine living side by side in peace and security within internationally recognized borders," the statement stressed.
Moavero, Wallstrom, Soreide, Cassis and Cavusoglu said they would be "at the parties’ disposal" to help them achieve enduring peace.
The current TIPH was established on 1 February 1997, in accordance with an agreement of 21 January 1997 pursuant to a provision in the Interim Agreement (Oslo II Accord) signed by Israel and the Palestinian Liberation Organization in 1995 (Annex I, Article VII, Paragraph 10), witnessed by the US, the EU, the Russian Federation, Egypt and Jordan, according to the statement.
"The Israeli decision to withdraw from the agreement with the PLO and thereby terminate the TIPH constitutes a departure from the Oslo II Accord of 1995," the statement underlined.
The PLO signed the agreement to renew the TIPH mandate, the statement noted.
"We are prepared to continue the Mission if requested by both parties," the statement added.
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