Palestinians rebuked the UN Security Council and the United States today for not taking action to place monitors in the West Bank and Gaza, saying this contributed to the past 11 months of violence.
But Washington, which has veto power in the council, again backed Israel in a public debate and said a proposed Palestinian resolution calling for monitors was one-sided and unworkable.
Because of the US objections, many non-Islamic countries were not anxious to push any resolution to a vote and some, like Russia, were silent on monitors or observers.
Ireland, as member of the 15-member council, called for the resumption of active and effective mediation in the Middle East. Speaking in New York this afternoon, Ireland's Deputy Permanent Representative to the UN, Ambassador Mr Gerard Corr, told the Council that it is now time that the obstacles to the implementation of the Mitchell Report were removed.
He reiterated the urgent need for a third party monitoring system despite the fact that Ireland abstained from a UN Security Council vote in March on creating just such a force in the West Bank and Gaza.
Mr Corr said that after ten months of violence and instability, the message of the Council to both sides must be to offer the full and active support of the international community in helping them to turn once again to the only possible way forward: dialogue and peace-building.
Opening the debate, requested by Islamic nations, Mr Nasser al-Kidwa, the chief Palestinian UN observer, said the escalation of violence might have been avoided had the 15-member body lived up to its responsibilities by taking specific measures blocked by the United States months ago.
"Frankly, it seems to be that there is something fundamentally wrong", he said.
Al-Kidwa's draft resolution calls for an undefined monitoring mechanism, that should help create a better situation on the ground.
The urgent reason in coming back to the council again, is of course the continuous deterioration of the situation to a very dangerous level, and because there is no other mechanism or organized and sustained efforts to halt the deterioration and change the situation, Mr Al-Kidwa said.
The meeting was called by the 57-nation Organization of Islamic Conference and will give all UN members a chance to voice views. But it is doubtful the council can even agree on a statement, much less a resolution, diplomats said.
US representative Mr James Cunningham said that it is precisely because of the gravity of events on the ground that we question the appropriateness and effectiveness of any action here in New York.
"What is required now is not rhetoric, not debate that polarizes an already volatile situation, and certainly not an effort to condemn one side with unbalanced charges or to impose unworkable ideas that will not change the reality on the ground", Mr Cunningham told the council.