GENEVA (13 December 2023) – Both Israel and the State of Palestine must refrain from all actions that endanger the lives and security of civilians in the Gaza Strip, the Occupied Palestinian Territory including East Jerusalem, and the State of Israel, the UN ad hoc Conciliation Commission said today. The Commission also expressed its strongest condemnation of all violence and hostilities targeting civilians and the escalation of the Israel-Palestine conflict since 7 October. The ad hoc Conciliation Commission was established on 30 November 2021 by the UN Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination in accordance with Article 12(1)(b) of the International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. “The Commission is fully committed to carrying out its tasks according to its mandate. It will make its good offices available to both Governments, with a view to an amicable solution of the matter on the basis of respect for the Convention,” it said. It called upon both Governments to consider the services of the Commission as available at any time and as a matter of priority. Documents concerning the case of the State of Palestine against Israel are available online. For more information and media requests in Geneva, please contact Vivian Kwok at vivian.kwok@un.org or UN Human Rights Office Media Section at ohchr-media@un.org Background The Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination monitors States parties’ adherence to the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination, which, to date has 182 States parties. The Committee is made up of 18 members who are independent human rights experts drawn from around the world, who serve in their personal capacity and not as representatives of States parties. Learn more with our animations on the Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination! Follow the UN Treaty Bodies on social media! We are on Twitter @UNTreatyBodies Situation in the Occupied Palestinian Territory and Israel See all Media coverage of the situation