In testimony before the United Nations Security Council yesterday, Robert Serry, the Special Coordinator for the Middle East Process called for the reconstruction of Gaza following Hamas’ latest escalation against Israel but omitted any explicit mention of the need for Hamas to disarm.
Addressing Israel’s concerns, Serry said that the UN has a mechanism for ensuring that humanitarian materials are used for their intended purposes, and do not end up in the hands of Hamas.
Serry also warned that recent riots in the West Bank serve as a “bleak warning to all concerned what the future will bring if we do not reverse the current negative trend towards a one-state reality, which is now on the parties’ doorstep.”
While Serry did call on Hamas “to act responsibly in this regard and refrain from any actions that run counter to this agenda,” he did not say that a precondition for peace is the disarming of Hamas.
By not demanding that Hamas disarm, Serry was out of touch with a principle put forward in a statement (.pdf) by the Mideast Quartet in the wake of Hamas’ electoral victory in 2006, that all armed groups “renounce violence and terror, accept Israel’s right to exist, and disarm,” as a prerequisite for peace in the Middle East.
The principle that Hamas must disarm for peace to be possible has been endorsed by the White House, Secretary of Defense Chuck Hagel and Secretary of State John Kerry. The foreign ministers of the European Union issued a call for the disarming of Hamas. In addition editorial in The Washington Post and The Wall Street Journal made clear that peace will not be possible as long as Hamas continues to maintain an arsenal that can threaten Israel.
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