United Nations Radio

The Israeli-Palestinian peace process is in a period of transition against the background of pending elections in Israel, a new United States administration scheduled to take office and internal challenges on the Palestinian side.

According to the UN Special Coordinator for the Middle East Peace Process Robert Serry, the immediate priority is to sustain the process during transition by building a solid bridge to make it through the fragile period ahead.
Serry told the UN Security Council Thursday that a priority must be to ensure calm in and around Gaza and urgently improve humanitarian conditions.

Robert Serry

"The decision of the Arab League to ensure no vacuum on the Palestinian side, support the legitimate Palestinian government and pursue Palestinian unity demands support. It is critically important to pursue specific action items to continue improving conditions on the ground in the West bank. We must protect, preserve, and where possible advance, the three tracks of the Annapolis process - negotiations, institution-building, and phase 1 roadmap implementation - and set the stage for a decisive push for peace in 2009."

Serry says an important platform for peace has been established due to the efforts of the parties and support of the international community.
The challenge now, he adds, is to build on this platform and turn the promise of peace into a reality.

This is Donn Bobb reporting for United Nations Radio.

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