Press Conference with Vice Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs Tzipi Livni and Secretary-General of the United Nations Ban Ki-Moon
Tel-Aviv, January 15, 2009
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: Madam Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, ladies and gentlemen of the media. I am very pleased to be here in Israel and to meet Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni again. I come at a very difficult time for Israel. I come with a heavy heart. I come on a mission of peace. I am well aware that rockets have been fired at Israeli civilians for years from Gaza. I have always condemned these rockets as acts of terrorism. They have no justification and they must cease.
But I must also be concerned about the suffering of the Palestinian civilians in Gaza. Many people have died and are still dying. Civilian suffering has reached an unbearable point. That is why I have urged an immediate, durable, and fully respected ceasefire. This is what Security Council Resolution 1860 calls for. The rockets must stop and Israel’s offensive must end. All violence must cease, and the bloodshed and suffering among the civilian populations must be halted.
Clearly, a return to the status quo ante can be no option. If a ceasefire is to be sustainable, we need arrangements to ensure a halt to the resupply of weapons to the Gaza militants, the reopening of the crossings, the release of Corporal Shalit, and that Gaza is reunited with the West Bank, in the one legitimate Palestinian Authority.
I also discussed with the foreign minister the humanitarian situation in Gaza. The people of Gaza are facing a dire humanitarian crisis. This is a real fact. We are working closely with the Israeli authorities to alleviate the crisis as much as possible. And I am truly proud of the United Nations staff, braving difficult and dangerous circumstances, to help those in need. And I appreciate the Israeli government authorities’ measures to establish a humanitarian operations center and to provide the necessary humanitarian assistance. I do hope, and I expressed this to the foreign minister, that this measure should continue.
Today, the United Nations compound in Gaza has been shelled again. I conveyed my strong protest and outrage to the defense minister and the foreign minister and demanded a full explanation. I had a telephone talk with the defense minister before I began my meeting with the foreign minister. Defense Minister Barak said to me that it was a grave mistake and he took it very seriously. He assured me that extra attention will be paid to the United Nations facilities and staff and that this should not be repeated.
I believe, from my talks in Egypt, that the elements are in place for this violence to end now. The time has come for the violence to stop and for us to change fundamentally the dynamics in Gaza and to pursue, again, the peace talks for a two-state solution, which is the only route to lasting security for Israel. We do not have any more time to lose. We must end the civilian suffering now.
I count on the wise leadership of the Israeli government. I want to thank Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni again for welcoming me to Israel and I look forward to the remainder of my visit.
Thank you very much.
Foreign Minister Livni: Thank you and welcome to Israel.
These are difficult times but Israel, a member state of the United Nations, is doing what a state needs to do in order to defend its citizens.
This is an effective, successful military operation against terror. Gaza is being controlled by a terrorist organization that does not fight for the aspirations of the Palestinian people, and is not part of the peace process that Israel launched in Annapolis with the pragmatic leadership in the Palestinian Authority.
That process needs to be continued according to an understanding and international strategy. We are working according to a dual strategy: the need to achieve a peace process with the pragmatic leadership of the legitimate Palestinian government; and, simultaneously, [the need] to fight terrorism and continue the de-legitimization of Hamas, which the international community decided upon three years ago and kept successfully until now. Hamas cannot be legitimized unless it accepts the international requirements, including accepting Israel’s right to exist, full renunciation of violence and terrorism, and of course, the acceptance of former agreements between Israel and the Palestinians.
For eight years now, Israeli civilians have been under threat. We discussed it, not for the first time. I call my colleagues in the international community and also the Secretary-General, telling them that this cannot continue any longer. Israeli citizens cannot live in a situation in which children cannot go to schools or kindergartens and be under this kind of threat.
Israel showed restraint, but there was and is a moment in which a state has to say enough is enough, and to translate it into a military operation, because there is no other way to address Hamas. When we discussed the fact that Israeli civilians are under threat, we heard the international community condemning terror attacks coming from the Gaza Strip, condemning mortars and the fact that the Hamas targets Israel. But then what?
Hamas is not a member of the United Nations; Hamas is not thinking about accepting the international community’s rules. Hamas does not share the same values that we all share, as members of the free world and the international community.
A few months ago, Israel decided to accept a truce that was initiated by the Egyptians, and which was violated on a daily basis by Hamas by targeting Israel and by continuously smuggling weapons that changed the missile range from twenty kilometers to fifty kilometers.
So today we discussed the humanitarian situation. Israel is acting against terror in the Gaza Strip, and simultaneously trying to help by easing the life of the population and giving medical and humanitarian support for the civilians. We understand and share the concerns of the international community on this matter. Anyway, these are our values as well.
But, at the end of the day, the question where the region is going relates to understanding the strategic nature of the processes in the region and the interests of the different players in the region, not only Israel’s. Hamas controlling the Gaza Strip is an obstacle not only for Israel but also for the Palestinians to create a state of their own. They are also responsible for the situation in the Gaza Strip, for the loss of Palestinian lives, and for the humanitarian situation in Gaza.
There is a fight and a battle going on in this region and it is not between Israel and the Palestinians. It is between moderates and extremists. Israel is in the same camp as the Palestinian moderates who have a legitimate government. We are with the other states that express their need to live in peace in the region, who want to see the continuation of the peace process based on two states for two peoples. Those states understand that terror, hatred and incitement are something that this region cannot afford any more. We need to fight it together, and that is what we are doing.
So, the question of where we are going is not only about the humanitarian situation, which is important and I am not going to downplay it, but also about the need to continue the de-legitimization of Hamas that the international community has been doing for three years now, because there is no way to gain legitimacy just through the Quartet’s requirements. They need to give an answer about the smuggling of weapons to the Gaza Strip. This is not only an Israeli problem, but it affects our possibility to live in peace or give our citizens what any citizen of the world deserves, which is a life free from threats.
Today we discussed all of these issues. Of course, Israel needs to make its own decisions, according to what I have just shared with you – our need to defend our citizens. What we are doing is expressing our right to self-defense. Israel is going to maintain its right to answer any kind of threat coming from different parts of the region, in a manner that we believe meets our responsibility as a government to defend our citizens.
This is what we are doing, and I do believe that maybe the end of the military operation can be this region’s opportunity to achieve the changes that all of us so need.
Q: Mr. Secretary-General, how frustrated are you that Israel is not listening to your call for a ceasefire?
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, why does this war have to go on; what have you achieved, and what are you achieving on the ground this week that you were not achieving last week, other than many more deaths, many of them civilians and children?
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: As the Secretary-General of the United Nations, I have a responsibility to assure the implementation of the Security Council resolution, which is a binding one.
Israel is one of the responsible members of the United Nations, thus it also has responsibilities to fully comply with and fully implement any resolutions taken by the Security Council.
I have urged the foreign minister, and I am going to urge the president and prime minister, to fully abide by this Security Council resolution. Before I came to Israel I had an informal meeting with all fifteen members of the Security Council and they have entrusted me with this mission to bring this fighting to an end immediately, in accordance with Security Council Resolution 1860. I sincerely hope that the Israeli government will adhere to this call by the Security Council and the wishes of the international community that the fighting must stop, and that we will not see any further sacrifices and killings of civilian populations or more destruction of infrastructure and properties.
We now have to see to the reconstruction of Gaza City. As soon as the ceasefire is attained, I intend to dispatch a humanitarian needs assessment team to Gaza. The foreign minister has agreed to facilitate the physical assessment teams.
Foreign Minister Livni: In Israel, we are doing our own assessment on a daily basis, and we will decide when to stop based on this assessment.
The goals of this operation were to change the equation. For months and years, the equation was that the Hamas targeted and threatened Israel, and Israel showed restraint. We were highly appreciated by the international community, but we did not give what every citizen needs to get from [their government], which is a peaceful life. A normal life, without the threat of Hamas. Before we started this operation, we had the truce that was violated in two different ways. One was the continuous threat of them targeting Israel; the other was their continued smuggling of weapons and changing the missile range, and we needed to address this.
We changed the equation and Hamas, for the first time, understands that Israel is not going to live any more in a region in which the bully controls the flames. This was achieved.
We need to find at which point, according to our own assessment, we have regained the deterrence necessary for a ceasefire, not only for a few days or weeks or months, but something more sustainable than that.
We also need to address the smuggling issue, and we are working on this with different parties from the international community as well. Israel is going to retain its right to defend itself anyway, also when it comes to the smuggling of weapons, not only to rockets being fired at Israel. We will decide when this is going to happen, based on our daily assessment.
Q: (inaudible)
Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon: Through my meetings with the leaders of Egypt, Jordan and Israel, my observation is that we have some elements now in place, which may enable the ceasefire to come reasonably soon. I do hope so.
But that depends upon the political reality of the Israeli government. You must have seen the report that Hamas has proposed a ceasefire, and I am not fully aware of the terms and conditions. What I would like to urge again is that you discuss these terms and conditions later. My demand is just to stop fighting now, immediately, and implement the ceasefire immediately. And then you can have discussions to make the ceasefire durable and sustainable, which can be respected fully by the parties concerned. If you take a longer time - more people will be killed and that is an unacceptable situation now.
It is almost twenty days since this fighting began. The number of casualties has reached an unbearable point. There is a strong wish, expectation and call from the international community for this fighting to stop, and to establish a durable and sustainable ceasefire so that Gaza’s citizen population can live in peace and security.
At the same time, Israeli people have the legitimate right to live without fear. It is again unacceptable that almost one million Israeli people should live day and night with such fear coming from indiscriminate rocket fire by the Hamas militants. These must also stop immediately and promptly.
On the subject of Hamas using human shields for any installations and facilities, that is unacceptable. This is against international humanitarian law and against humanity. It cannot be accepted and it must be stopped.
Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni: I would like, of course, to reiterate and emphasize that in this military operation, Israel is distinguishing between the terrorists and the civilians, But unfortunately, as we see, they are using civilians as human shields; they are targeting Israel from highly populated places. Even though we try to avoid civilian casualties, these things happen, but we also took into consideration in our discussion today, the need to give more humanitarian aid, and we are going to work together with the United Nations and other international partners in order to ease the humanitarian situation as far as we can, because this is not a conflict between people, but a war against terror that expresses Israel’s right to defend itself and its citizens.
[Translated from Hebrew]
In response to your question, the fact that Gilad Shalit has been in Hamas’ hands for so long is on the government’s agenda. Our commitment to bringing him home never diminishes, but only increases. Yet the things that have been said throughout this period still hold true. This discussion does not need to be conducted publicly. We are constantly reminding everyone, including the members of the international community, about the fact that Hamas is holding Gilad Shalit, and not providing any access to him. I also brought this up today in my discussion with the head of the Red Cross, who arrived in Israel for a visit. We expect, from the international community as well, that this subject not be laid aside. It must be addressed, and we heard the UN secretary-general address it today too, but it is most certainly, first of all, the Israeli government’s responsibility.
Thank you very much.