No decision yet by Israel on Jenin mission, UN official tells Security Council

Senior Israeli officials have not decided whether to agree to a United Nations fact-finding mission mandated to develop accurate information about recent events at the Jenin refugee camp, a senior UN official told the Security Council today.

“I told the Council that I had disappointing news in that the Israeli Cabinet did not take a decision today as we had been led to expect,” Kieran Prendergast, the Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs, told reporters after the 15-member security body met in closed-door consultations on the Middle East.

Mr. Prendergast said a decision was expected shortly. “We are told that the Cabinet will be meeting at 8 tomorrow morning, Israel time, to take a decision, and that we can expect a letter from the Foreign Minister afterwards,” he said.

“The Secretary-General’s objective remains to deploy the mission to the field as soon as possible so that it can complete the task assigned to it in Security Council resolution 1405, and meanwhile the team are continuing their preparations,” he stressed.