UNITED NATIONS: Expressing fear that another war in Israeli occupied Gaza was inevitable, Sweden’s United Nation Ambassador Olof Skoog said Security Council was not doing enough to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian issue.

Responding to a question at a press conference on Tuesday the outgoing president of the 15-member UN Security Council, reflected “Resolving it should be a priority. Has it been a priority? I am afraid not,” said Skoog, speaking at the end of Sweden’s presidency of the Security Council.

Skoog said recent events “have been moving us away from peace” in the region, citing the US’s decision to move its embassy in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem and Israel’s Jewish nation-state law.

“We are very close to another Gaza war. Almost on a daily basis the tensions are there that could escalate very quickly. So, it is a very dangerous situation. And I do not think that the Security Council has done enough about it,” Skoog said.

He also said the council had failed to take a humanitarian approach in Gaza, Palestine, adding he did not see any movement forward for resolving the conflict.

Sweden did not approve of the embassy decision announced by the US in May, which was met with discord among the international community, he recalled.

Published in Dawn, August 2nd, 2018