The UN's Expert on Human Rights in Palestine Resigned Because Israel Won't Let Him Enter Palestine

The UN's special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories has tendered his resignation, because of continued refusal on the part of Israel to allow him entry into Palestine.

The rapporteur, Indonesian diplomat Makarim Wibisono, took office in June 2014. In a statement released Monday, Wibisono said at that time he had been given assurances by Israel that he would be allowed entry into Gaza and the West Bank. "I took up this mandate with the understanding that Israel would grant me access, as an impartial and objective observer," said Wibisono.

But like his predecessor, American law professor Richard Falk, who served as rapporteur from 2008 until 2014, Wibisono was prevented from entering Palestinian territory via Israel. Though Falk was able to enter Hamas-controlled Gaza in 2012 via Egypt, Wibisono deemed such a trip too dangerous given recent insecurity in the Sinai peninsula. Wibisono said he communicated, both in writing and orally, his wish to travel via Israel on several occasions, but received no official response. On Monday, he cited that lack of cooperation in a letter sent to the President of the UN's Human Rights Council, the Geneva-based body which appoints special rapporteurs.

"With no reply from Israel to my latest request, in October 2015, to have access by the end of 2015, it is with deep regret that I accept the premise upon which I took up the mandate, which is to have direct access to victims in the Occupied Palestinian Territory, will not be fulfilled," said Wibisono.

Despite not being allowed to cross into Palestinian territory, Wibisono did continue to work in line with his mandate, furnishing reporting based on interviews carried out in outside countries, including Jordan and Egypt, and and via teleconferences. In March 2015, he presented a report focused heavily on Israel's military intervention in Gaza the summer before. Citing UN figures, Wibisono said that 2,256 Palestinians had been killed during the conflict, including 1,563 civilians, 538 of whom were children, and called on Israel to investigate the deaths.

"The numbers speak volumes about the scale of the devastation, but statistics alone cannot do justice to the intensity of human suffering or explain the impact that the conflict will have on Palestinians living in Gaza for months and years to come," wrote Wibisono.

The report also cited ongoing violations committed in the West Bank, including the systematic detention and ill-treatment of Palestinian children. "It is especially deplorable that Palestinian children are suffering the brunt of occupation policies and practices of Israel, whether as a result of the blockade and hostilities in Gaza, the excessive use of force by Israeli security forces in the context of legitimate protests and peaceful demonstrations, as well as search operations in the refugee camps, and abuse and ill-treatment in Israeli prisons," he wrote.

The position of special rapporteur on the situation of human rights in the Palestinian territories was created by the Human Right Council's predecessor, the Commission on Human Rights, in a 1993 resolution. The last rapporteur allowed passage through Israel was South African law professor John Dugard, who entered in 2007, according to a spokesperson for the UN's human rights office.

"It is my sincere hope that whoever succeeds me will manage to resolve the current impasse, and so reassure the Palestinian people that after nearly half a century of occupation the world has not forgotten their plight and that universal human rights are indeed universal," said Wibisono.

Israel's mission to the United Nations, as well as its Foreign Ministry, did not respond to request for comment. The Israeli government has long had a contentious relationship with UN human rights bodies, including the Human Rights Council, which it accuses of anti-Israeli bias, and of focusing disproportionately on allegations lodged against the. In addition to not replying to Wibisono's office, Israel has separately said it does not believe the International Criminal Court, which began a preliminary inquiry into crimes committed in Palestine, has jurisdictions over occupied Palestinian lands. Though Israel withdrew from Gaza in 2005, it maintains a blockade of the coastal zone. Should the ICC inquiry lead to an official investigation, it could see the court implicate both Israeli and Palestinian individuals for violations of international law.