Nikolay Mladenov, the United Nation’s Special Coordinator for Middle East Peace, warned the world body’s security council that extremists were “on the rise again and the risk of war continues to loom large.” Addressing the U.N. Security Council in a televised statement from his headquarters in Jerusalem, Mladenov stressed that for Israelis and Palestinians to get back on track for a peaceful resolution of the decades-old conflict “the first thing that is required is leadership.” “Extremists are on the rise again, and the risk of war continues to loom large. Israelis and Palestinians, to get back on track for a peaceful resolution to the conflict, the first thing that is required is leadership. Leadership that believes peace is possible through negotiations,” Nikolai Mladenov, U.N. Special Coordinator for Mideast Peace.
The Special Coordinator further warned that “the militant build-up continues, as the risk of ever more radical and extremist groups pushing both sides into war grows by the day. With the prospects of intra-Palestinian reconciliation dimming, the people of Gaza feel more and more left to their own devices with no representation, no relief, and no way out.”